Reduced to Specimens
by JaydeeGrey
Summary: Based on what happened after the Nibelheim incident. Sephiroth is dead but there are two survivors. Hojo has found himself some new subjects. Centres mainly around Zack and Cloud. But not as a couple. sorry.
1. Chapter 1

_First fanfic so be gentle :)_

_A little info to go with the summary: It's mostly about what Cloud and Zack went through at the hands of Hojo though I'm not sure I won't throw in some side stories as I go. Also, if you're a big Reno and Rude fan you may or may not enjoy the fact that I'm most likely going to make them evil sons of bitches ha! _

_Also, there will be gory scenes, probably a fair bit of profanity, and who knows what else so if the 'M' rating didn't clue you in and this is shocking you…I apologize. You may turn back now. For the rest of y'all I do not own anything final fantasy-ish. Though I wish I did. _

_Read on and review! _

Chapter I

"How could this have happened? Goddammit!" Hojo gazed around at the destruction.

"Sir, Sephiroth is dead," one of his assistants called to him from a few metres away.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" he shouted "Get me the security tapes, I want to know what happened!" He paced angrily a moment then headed for the exit.

"Professor?" another of his assistants stopped him.

"What is it?"

"Survivors, sir, two of them."

Hojo followed him to where the supposed survivors lay. The first one he set eyes on was a member of the Shinra militia. He lay at the top of a staircase, his upper body slumped over the first few steps. A stream of blood had run from his torso down a few of the stairs, pooling on the fourth step. The wound went through from his chest to his back. It was highly suggestive of a sword wound. The second survivor was a SOLDIER. He lay on the stairs near the bottom, also bleeding from what appeared to be a sword wound.

Hojo thought for a moment. "We'll take them back to the Shinra mansion and get them fixed up while we find out what happened here. They should not have survived and I want to know why they have."

Zack had been slipping in and out of light consciousness. Each time he came back to awareness he found himself in too much pain and too tired to even open his eyes. His limbs felt heavy and his head ached. This time he heard voices. They seemed muffled and far away. He couldn't make out what they were saying. He felt something then. It felt like vibrations. Though they were light they still sent shockwaves of pain through him. He felt hands on him, grabbing his arms and hauling him up forcefully. He wanted to cry out but the sound came as only a shallow, barely audible gurgling sound in his throat caused by the blood that had collected there. He was taken outside and laid down on the floor of what he could only assume was a truck. He somehow managed to pry his eyes open a tiny bit, just enough to see Cloud lying unconscious next to him.

_Cloud_, he said silently in his mind. _Hold on, we'll be okay. _It was his last thought before he fell back into darkness.

Warmth. That's what he felt first. It was a comfortable warmth that enveloped his whole body. He felt weightless and while had been expecting pain, he felt none. Slowly, Zack opened his eyes. They tingled as he did so and he realized then he was submerged in liquid. He looked down first, seeing his feet hanging below him but not touching bottom. He reached to his face, feeling the mask that was covering his mouth and nose, allowing him to breathe.

_Where am I? _His mind was clouded in confusion. _The last thing I remember…Sephiroth…being carried… _

He shook his thoughts away and squinted ahead of him. He was in some sort of tube. It was about 4 feet in diameter but was small enough to make him feel trapped. He reached out and touched the clear, curved walls around him. They were smooth and cold, indicating the temperature outside his tank was a lot cooler than inside. Past the walls he could see several things. There was a desk on the opposite wall, covered in papers, folders, and binders. There were at least ten file cabinets nearby on the right wall and many shelves of books above both the desk and cabinets. In the centre of the room was a metal operating table. To the left…

His visual tour was halted when he set eyes on what was next to him about a meter away. There was another vertical tube the same as his, and submerged in the same clear liquid as him was Cloud, floating unconsciously, his head down at his chest.

"Cloud," he spoke out loud only to realize the sound was suppressed by the air mask over his face. He contemplated removing it but knew that wouldn't be a good idea. Instead he knocked on the thick glass of his tube, hoping to rouse him. Nothing. Cloud made no movement. He was about to knock again when movement caught his eye. The door to the room opened with a creak and a man walked in, followed by two others. Zack's eyes widened as he recognized the man. It was Professor Hojo, that crazy-ass scientist who had been responsible for delivering Mako treatments to SOLDIERS. He had always creeped Zack out. Now he was more confused as ever as to why he and Cloud were there in Hojo's lab.

"Well, good to see that one of our specimens has finally woken up from his beauty sleep," he said with a smug grim.

_Specimens? What the fuck is he talking about? _

"How are you feeling, Specimen Z1?" he asked, looking directly at Zack.

Zack frowned, he clenched his fist. Something was wrong, he knew it. Hojo was planning something and though he hated to admit it, he was sure he knew at least part of that plan. He and Cloud had been appointed his new subjects for whatever nutso experiment he had come up with now.

"Well there's no sense in keeping you in there now that you're all fixed up, is there?" he said happily as he strolled over to a control panel next to his tube. He punched in some buttons and a second later the air mask detached from Zack's face. He wasn't expecting it and was unlucky enough to be taking a breath at that moment, catching the liquid in his airway. He gagged and panicked momentarily, needing air to catch his breath and rid himself of what he'd inhaled. He thrashed for a moment until he felt the liquid being suctioned out through the bottom of the tube and before he knew it he was standing in an empty tube. Not for long however as he fell to his knees coughing and choking on the liquid in his throat. He struggled to pull himself back to a stand, gripping one of the glass sides of the tube. He glared at Hojo.

"Hojo," he said his name with contempt. "What the hell are we doing here?"

"Please try to calm down Z1," he said casually, his arms behind his back.

"My name is Zack Fair, SOLDIER, first class, you know that, Hojo!"

Hojo only smirked and turned his back on Zack, heading over to his desk. "Denial will not help you, Z1," he commented as he sifted through the things on his desk.

"You owe me an explanation!" he spoke forcefully, trying to keep the nervous shaking he felt from his voice

"No, not really," Hojo scoffed, turning back to Zack with a folder in his hand. "But I'll humour you," he added. "Seems you and Specimen C4 have survived what no one would ever have expected you to, facing up to the mighty Sephiroth. And that has earned you both a special place here. You will both receive plentiful gifts for your strength and perseverance. You'll thank me later."

"You're off your rocker, old man. Now you let Cloud and I out of here right now!"

Zack felt the rage bubbling inside him. He knew where it was coming from. Fear. He hated being afraid and right now he was terrified. He and Cloud were alone as far as he knew. Know one knew where they were. Most people probably assumed they were dead. Hojo had control. He knew that.

"Enough talking for now, Z1. I think it's time you rest some more. There shall be plenty of time to exercise your vocal cords in the near future."

With that said, Hojo strolled over to the control panel next to his tube and punched in a code. Zack looked down as he felt something coming up through the grated floor. He could barely make out a thin mist seeping upwards. As it reached his head and he took a breath he gasped as he felt his chest tighten and his muscles tense up. His limbs started going numb. He tried holding his breath but it made no difference. The vapor was seeping into his pores, dulling all his nerves. After a few moments he collapsed to his knees and shortly after that he found himself crumpled against the glass helplessly. He couldn't move. He could barely breathe. He fought the urge to let his eye lids fall as he began to feel the mist being sucked out of the tank once again through the floor.

There was the sound of a suction being released and the front of the tube slid open with a hiss. Hojo's lab assistants were there in a flash to drag his limp form out and across the lab. The cold air hit his still wet body and sent chills down to his core. He wanted nothing more than to rip himself free of the grimy hands of the lab-asses and throw a good right hook at Hojo's face but he couldn't. He couldn't fight back, he couldn't even speak.

He tried to hold onto consciousness as he was dragged to the door but the sedative was too overwhelming. His last vision was of Cloud, still floating quietly in his tube.

It seemed like days had passed when Zack finally woke up again, though he doubted that much time had really passed. A couple hours maybe. He opened his eyes slowly and glanced around. He was lying in one very uncomfortable position on a cot with his left arm underneath him and his right leg hanging over the edge. As he dragged himself up to a sitting position he could feel a few of his joints cracking which despite the awful sound made him feel a little better. He was groggy but without much pain. He was however quite cold. It felt almost like being in a refrigerator. That was his first indication that the room was far below surface level. He looked to his left and found a set of clothes folded neatly. Plain black pants and a black t-shirt. He became aware then that he was in his boxers.

Once dressed, he paced the room a bit, which was almost like walking in a circle. It wasn't a very big room. Two cots, one blanket and pillow on each. One set of clothes. No socks or shoes. A small nook of a bathroom which consisted of a toilet and sink, one bar of soap, one roll of toilet paper, one hand towel. There was pretty much nothing in there that he could use as a weapon. There were no apparent weakness in the room. The cell was tight. Zack sighed, falling back on the cot, his back against the wall. Inevitably she was going to enter into his mind. He started to think of Aerith. Somehow, he had to get to her. Had to let her know he was okay. He would figure out something. He had to…

Those eyes. Those fierce eyes pierced him almost just as fiercely as his sword, bringing forth a cry that stunned him into an abrupt awakening. _A dream_, Cloud thought. _Just a dream_. His eyes shot open and he found himself staring into a blur of liquid. He thrashed instinctively trying to get to the surface of whatever body of water he had fallen into. His mind was fast to remind him that there was no body of water. The last thing he remembered was collapsing at the top of the stairs in the reactor. _Then that means…it really happened. I killed Sephiroth. _

Confusion and awe was ringing in his head as he tried to clear the bubbles from around him so he could see where he was. Unexpectedly, he found himself staring into the face of an older man with black hair and dark-rimmed glasses who was glaring in at him with deep interest. He was startled, pushing himself back with his hands and hitting his back against the glass wall of the tube. _It has to be a nightmare…_

Zack lay on his back with his hands behind his head. He was deep in thought, going through all the events of the past few days. His mind returned over and over to dwell on everything Hojo had said. He seemed to believe he was going to be rewarding Cloud and him with something, though knowing Hojo, there was nothing rewarding about it. He had to keep his cool. Though inside he knew he could freak out at any moment, he had to remain collected. It was the only way he was gonna get out of there.

There was the sound of beeps coming from a keypad outside the room and second later the door clicked open. Hojo's lab assistants appeared, dragging in Cloud's paralyzed body. They dropped him to the floor carelessly and left as quick as they came barely giving Zack enough time to shout some profanities at them.

Slowly, Zack grasped Cloud's body and pulled him up onto the cot to his left. He dried him off and dressed him before pulling the blanket over him. _It's bloody freezing in this hell hole_ Zack thought as he stared down at his friend. He felt something rise up inside him as he stared at the unconscious kid—well not a kid…He was a teenager, but Zack couldn't help thinking of him like a kid. Like the kid brother he never had. It only made what he felt stronger. Guilt.

"Don't worry, Spike," he said as he pushed some of his blond hair out of his face and stepped back to his own cot, sitting down. "I got us into this and I'll get us out." He was almost convinced.

Zack had been watching Cloud for over an hour, watching his chest slowly rising and falling. He sat on the side of his cot, jiggling his one knee nervously as he gazed at the spikey-haired kid. He had been going over and over again in his head what he would say to him when he woke up but when the time came he was struck with a big blank. Slowly, Cloud moved his arm over his chest to the spot where Sephiroth had impaled him. Zack wondered if he was feeling the same phantom pain he had felt himself a few times. His eyes fluttered open then and he turned his head Zack's way, before starting sitting up slowly.

"Zack…" he began groggily. "I had the weirdest dream…" He moved his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his face with his hands. Zack was silent. He really didn't know what to say for once in his life. He watched as Cloud lowered his arms and glanced around at the room they were in. Confusion flashed across his face. "It was a dream…right?" he said in a low tone before looked Zack in his dark blue-violet eyes. "Zack, where are we?"

His voice was tentative then. Meek, like a child's. It was painstaking for Zack to hear. He cleared is throat before answering.

"I think…we're in the Shinra Mansion. Somewhere in one of its lower levels…" he answered slowly.

Cloud looked down at the floor. He shook his head.

"I don't understand. That man. There was a man with dark hair and glasses—"

"Hojo," Zack cut him off. Cloud's eyes darted up. He recognized the name and instantly he was flooded with memories of the stories he'd heard.

"What…what does he want with us?"

Zack could hear a small hint of fear in Cloud's voice though he knew he was trying hard to hide it. It was time for him to take charge of the messed up situation and put on the brave face.

"It doesn't matter. We won't be staying," he declared confidently. "I'll get us out of here faster than you know it, Spike! Just got to wait for the right moment. As soon as that door opens," he said, pointing to the only exit to the small room. Cloud looked at the door almost expectantly, like it should have opened right that minute. A moment later he was looking down again. Zack exhaled slowly, sighing softly. "Don't worry, okay? Everything will be fine."

"It's not that. It's just…" Cloud began softly, but trailed off.

"Are you thinking about what happened at the reactor?" Zack hazarded a guess. Cloud was silent but over the time he had known him he had come to be able to interpret the many 'silences of Cloud.'

"Aren't you?" Cloud looked up at him. Zack scoffed. Cloud knew him too. "I don't know how you couldn't be…I don't even know what happened, Zack. One minute, things were fine…the Sephiroth…it wasn't him anymore."

Zack thought back to the last image of Sephiroth he had in his memory. His general. His mentor. His friend. If only it hadn't been him. Yet it was…and that's what made the memory painful.

"Hojo healed us?" Cloud spoke, breaking into Zack's thoughts. He had lifted his shirt to look at his chest that was smooth and nearly scarless. Only a thin, barely visible line showed when Sephiroth's sword had entered his body. Zack nodded. "Why would he do that?"

"Who knows why Hojo does anything he does?"

Just then, there was the sound of the keypad outside the door. Cloud looked at Zack, who was readying himself to strike.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey guys! Second chapter whoo! I'm glad y'all enjoyed the first one. I should let you know that I didn't exactly proof-read this chapter (well half of it anyway) cause I wrote the second half real quick and I figured you guys would rather read it with the few errors that are in it then having me wait another day to proof it first. So here it is! _

_And of course I don't own Final Fantasy. Read on and review!_

Chapter II

Zack's strike didn't exactly go off as he planned. As the door flew open to his and Cloud's small cell he had been ready to launch a hit at the first person to step over the threshold but the shock of who entered was enough to make him stop dead in his tracks.

"RENO?!" Zack exclaimed in surprise, seeing the fiery redhead step into the room with his Electro-Mag Rod resting on his shoulder. He appeared, as always, lazily dressed in his Turk suit with his shirt untucked under an open jacket and his tie missing. There was a smug grin drawn across his lips as he entered though it faded momentarily as he almost looked just as surprised as Zack did. Behind him, Rude stepped in. Tall, sharply dressed to code, donning his usual dark sunglasses he stood aside quietly.

"Heh! Well look who it is?" Reno said, his grin returning as he strutted toward Zack. "Well I never expected _you_ to be one of the survivors of Sephiroth. Guess you're a little better than I thought." He laughed mockingly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Zack asked, ignoring Reno's mocking.

"_I_ work here," he replied simply. "It's our job to escort you ladies to the D-Wing."

"That's gonna be pretty hard when you're lying unconscious on the floor," Zack commented, giving his own dry laugh. Reno gave an exaggerated sigh.

"You SOLDIERs…you always have to take the difficult route," he said, lowering his EMR and preparing himself for the fight. "Come on, pretty boy, gimme your best shot!" he laughed, urging Zack to come after him with an outstretched hand.

Zack turned to look at Cloud who had been sitting on the edge of the cot watching the situation unfold. He gave him one of his wide grins and chuckled before turning quick to attack Reno. He had anticipated Reno's moves before he made them. He knew as he shot out his right fist that Reno would deflect with his EMR but he was ready, gripping the weapon in his left hand and snapping Reno's arm back leaving him open for Zack to deliver his fist to the left side of Reno's face. Reno's head flew to the side and he stumbled to the left trying to stay steady. He turned back to look at Zack as he touched a few fingers to is now bleeding lower lip. Zack displayed his own smug grin then.

"Enough messing around," Reno said, becoming serious. He nodded to Rude who started toward Cloud. Cloud looked up at him with wide eyes. This was certainly going to be a fair match! Not! The hulk of a Turk hovered what seemed like feet above him even as he lifted himself from the cot. Luckily, Cloud had something Rude lacked: speed. He dodged Rude's fists agilely, ducking and jumping to avoid them. Eventually though he found his back pressed up against the wall and he felt his stomach drop a little. Rude's right fist flew toward him and he ducked just in time to miss having it connect at full force with his face. Instead, Rude's fist met with the concrete wall and he cried out in pain, shaking his injured hand as Cloud kicked off the wall and summersalted past him, stopping on one knee behind and delivering as hard a hit he could to Rude's left kidney. It sent Rude to his own knees. Cloud used the opportunity to try to get away but as he turned and was rising, Rude grasped his leg and he fell hard back onto his hands and knees. He dragged Cloud back, delivering a hit to his gut that had him choking on the air in his lungs. Rude reached down and closed his huge fist around Cloud's neck then and dragged him back to the wall, before lifting him up off the ground, the tips of his toes just barely touching tile.

A fight had been going on between Zack and Reno, though it didn't last long. One of Zack's high-powered hits sent Reno to the ground and a kick to the side of his head knocked him out cold. He looked over at Cloud who was being choked unconscious by Rude. Quickly, Zack bent down, picking up Reno's EMR and stepping up behind Rude. He reached out, tapping him on the shoulder. As Rude turned, Zack let the rod fly into the side of his face, sending electricity through his body that had him releasing Cloud and dropping to the floor temporarily out of service. Cloud gasped for air as he sat on the floor next to Rude's body. He looked up at Zack who could see the colour now returning to his friend's skin.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Zack said, reaching down a hand to help him up. Once on their feet they raced from the open door quickly, entering the hall. They looked back and forth trying to decide which way to go. "That way!" Zack said, pointing to the left with Reno's EMR still in his hand. They took off in that direction. They passed several more doors like theirs and it entered into Zack's head that perhaps there were others trapped down there like he and Cloud had been. It made him feel guilty for just racing by without pausing to see if he could help but he quickly told himself that it was better for he and Cloud to get out now and they would deal with saving others later if it came to that.

They rounded several corners before they came to a staircase and started to ascend, Zack taking two steps at a time with his long legs and Cloud rushing up fast behind. They pushed through a set of swinging double doors and found themselves running down another long hall, both panting.

"Do you know where we're going?" Cloud called to Zack from a few feet behind.

"Sure I do! Shame on you for doubting me, Spikey!" he said jokingly as they were rounding another corner. Just then, there was a loud THWAP sound as something slammed into Zack, stopping him dead and throwing him back onto the floor. The EMR hit the tile with a clang and rolled from his grasp. Cloud skidded to a stop.

"Zack!" he cried out to his friend seeing him holding a hand to his face as blood poured out of his nose. In that second, about 5 Shinra guards came around the corner quickly aiming their guns at both he and Zack. Cloud looked back from the way they came as he heard the sounds of more guards approaching, hurrying down the long hall.

"Shit," Zack muttered, seeing that they were being surrounded quickly.

"HANDS UP NOW!" one of the guards demanded, aiming his weapon at Cloud who slowly raised his hands up in surrender. Someone grabbed him from behind, slamming him against the wall, his brow bone and chin hitting the rough cinderblock, tearing some of his skin. His wrists were cuffed and he was pulled back from the wall, one of the guards holding onto him kicked the back of his knee to get him down on the floor.

Two guards had turned Zack over on his stomach on the floor and one was holding him down with a knee to the back of his neck while the other cuffed his wrists.

"Geeze, guys, do you have to be so fuckin' rough?" Zack grunted out as he was being pushed into the floor. A standing guard next to him delivered a kick to his left side and Zack groaned. "I guess so."

There was the sound of footsteps approaching. Over his shoulder, Cloud could see that Reno and Rude were approaching. Both were sporting developing bruises on their faces from Zack. The guards had raised Zack to his knees next to Cloud. He couldn't see them approaching. Reno picked up his EMR as he strutted onto the scene and as he came up behind Zack he delivered a kick to his back, pushing him over onto the floor.

"Leave him alone!" Cloud found himself yelling before he had even realized it. He was becoming aware of his own anger boiling deep down. _These people have no right to keep us here_ he thought to himself.

"Shuddup!" Reno yelled back at him, coming up in front of him and throwing the heel of his hard Turk shoe into Cloud's jaw, splitting his lip open. Cloud could taste the blood as it mixed with his saliva and ran through his mouth.

"You know, I always thought you were a jerk, Reno, but now I see how big an asshole you really are," Zack spoke up once again. "The Turks really are Shinra's little bitches," he said with a big smile. This obviously snapped Reno's cords or fury as he swung his EMR into Zack's chest and held it there. Zack felt the volts run through him sparking every one of his nerves. He cried out in pain through gritted teeth.

"STOP!" Cloud shouted, struggling against the hold's of the guards behind him. Reno withdrew his weapon, leaving Zack to pant painfully, his body arched toward the floor.

"Didn't I tell you to SHUT UP?!" Reno shouted at Cloud.

"Fuck you!" Cloud retorted, fury backing him up now, shadowing out the underlying fear of the repercussions to follow. Reno seemed a little surprised at his comeback. He stepped in front of Cloud and crouched down to be eye-level with him.

"Aw, what's the matter, baby boy? You don't like me hurting your boyfriend?" he said in a mocking tone. Cloud knew it wasn't a good idea but he didn't care. He gathered up some of the bloody saliva in his mouth and spit it out into Reno's face. For a moment Reno was still, in shock. He had his eyes squeezed shut as he reached a hand to his face and wiped away some of Cloud's spit. His anger broke out then as his eyes snapped open and he launched himself at Cloud, slamming him to the floor and kneeling over him as he let his fist go, hitting Cloud's face repeatedly. The only sounds in the hall at that point were the thuds of Reno's knuckles driving into flesh-covered bone. Rude stopped Reno after the fifth or sixth hit as his arm was pulled back ready for another one. He looked back at Rude who shook his head slowly at him. Reno's adrenaline began to fall then. He stood up and stepped back from Cloud a few feet, blood dripping off his knuckles and spotting the floor. Zack stared in horror at Cloud, the left side of his face was covered in his blood. He wasn't moving but was breathing hard, his eyes shut tight.

"Get them to the D-Wing," Reno said with disgust as he looked down at the damage he'd done. Four of the guards complied, dragging both Zack and Cloud to their feet and leading them back down the hall they had come from. They left a trail of blood as they went. Zack from his busted nose and Cloud from whatever wounds had been inflicted on his face that were too hard to make out under all the dark clotting red. Neither of them said anything at first as they were being forced down to the D-Wing. Zack couldn't stay quiet though, naturally.

"Hey, Cloud," he called to him. Cloud made a small sound in reply. "You okay, kid?" Cloud took a moment to respond.

"I'll be fine," he said quietly. Zack nodded.

"Well, just so you know, what you did to Reno back there, spitting in that son of a bitch's face, just made you my hero, man," he said through a smirk. For some reason Cloud couldn't hold back the urge to chuckle. So he let it out and Zack followed with his own.

The guards found it less than amusing as they shoved Zack and Cloud through the double swinging doors into the area known as D-Wing. A short distance later they entered a familiar door into the room they both recognized as the one they had each woken up in. Hojo's lab. There were two chairs off to the right. They almost resembled the electric chair which was fairly disturbing. The guards prodded them over and pushed them down in the chairs. They uncuffed Zack and Cloud and then strapped their wrists down to the arms of the chairs. Similarly, their ankles were strapped to the legs of the chairs. Once they were strapped down securely, the guards turned to leave.

"Thanks a bunch fellas, look forward to seeing you again," Zack said in cheery sarcasm. The door to the lab slammed shut then, leaving the he and Cloud alone. "Dicks," he scoffed after they had left. Cloud gazed around at the room, taking in everything. The room was lit in an eerie low fluorescent lighting that gave off an audible buzzing sound. There was a strong scent of antiseptic in the cold basement air that was mixed with the smell of something else. Something stale though it was hard to place. "Man, I'm hungry," Zack muttered, breaking the tense silence.

Just then, the door to the lab opened with a creak and the first to step in was Hojo. He was followed by four lab assistants, three of them men and the fourth a woman.

"My my. Have a little trouble getting here?" Hojo asked as he walked toward Zack and Cloud, taking notice of their injuries.

"You didn't really expect us to march ourselves willingly down here, did you Hojo?" Zack inquired.

"Of course not, Specimen Z1. Not this time anyway. In time, you will." He seemed so sure of himself.

"Cut the specimen shit, Hojo, it's getting lame," Zack said sternly, the humour in his voice fading. Hojo was ignoring him, he had gone on to instruct his assistants as to what materials they were going to need for their procedure.

"Dr. Marsh, you may start the primary assessments now," He instructed his female assistant. She strode over to a tray by the wall behind Zack and Cloud and wheeled it around next to Zack first. She first placed her stethoscope in her ears and leaned forward to listen to his heartbeat. Zack smirked, leaning forward a bit and lowering his chin to speak closer to the scope.

"Hello, Dr. Marsh," he said with that distinct Zack charm. The tall and slim woman with honey brown hair pulled back in a bun and small framed glasses paid no attention to him. She removed the scope from her ears and hung it around her neck.

"Specimen Z1's heart rate is normal," she spoke to Hojo, who had a clipboard in front of him and was taking down notes. She attached a blood pressure cuff around Zack's left bicep and began pumping the air into it.

"You're kinda shy eh, doctor?" Zack went on. "It's kinda cute really." She did a good job ignoring him which was actually rather difficult to do around Zack.

"Blood pressure's normal," she said to Hojo, pulling the cuff from Zack and setting it down. It was followed up by the doctor checking his temperature and then shining a penlight in his eyes to check their dilation.

"What do you think, doc? Are my eyes as pretty as yours?" Zack chimed. She responded by telling Hojo that Specimen Z1 was ready for secondary procedures. She repeated the primary procedures on Cloud who, unlike Zack, remained silent the whole time. Of course, also unlike Zack, his heart rate and blood pressure were slightly more elevated, giving away the nervousness and underlying fear he was feeling. However, he apparently was also deemed ready for secondary procedures, whatever that was. Hojo instructed her to proceed. She put on some rubber gloves as she returned to Zack, attaching a tourniquet to his arm. "This is gettin' pretty sexy, doctor, I think we should ask the old man to leave," Zack chuckled, looking at Hojo.

At that point it was fairly obvious that the Dr. Marsh wasn't amused. She cleaned a spot on Zack's arm hastily before taking a needle from the tray and jabbing it into the vein in his arm. "Ow!" he cried out softly. "No need to get all feisty!"

She took out four separate samples of his blood before moving on to Cloud. If there was something that had always made Cloud nervous, it was needles. Despite the cold of the room he found himself sweating. Surprisingly, the doctor was gentler with him than Zack, taking a little more care in extracting his blood though it was still painfully uncomfortable. Dr. Marsh was done then. She placed the blood samples in a plastic case and removed her rubber gloves. "Secondary procedures are complete," she told Hojo, pushing the tray she had been using back to its place by the wall. She left the lab then, carrying with her the plastic case containing the blood samples.

_Please let that be all_, Cloud thought to himself. His head and face were aching and he just wanted to go lie down. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end. Hojo finished taking some notes and then spoke up to one of his remaining assistants. "Lyle, prepare the injections." The assistant named Lyle headed for a second tray near the one Dr. Marsh had used. He was busy out of view of Zack and Cloud for a few moments. The other two lab assistants stared at them awkwardly as Hojo continued to scribble down notes.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" Zack inquired forcefully, looking back at one of the assistants who looked away then. The sound of Lyle wheeling a tray from the wall could be heard. He stopped next to Zack who looked down at what was lying on the tray. _No fucking way is that what I think it is_ Zack thought as his eyes widened. On the tray were two large needles full of a hazy fluorescent-like green liquid that he recognized to be pure Mako. It looked to be about 4 or 5 times the amount given usually to Soldiers. "You gotta be flippin' kidding me," Zack muttered, staring at the injections.

"Fortunately no, Specimen Z1. I told you, you and Specimen C4 have been chosen to undergo specialized treatment in ability enhancement," Hojo said happily.

"Ability enhancement?! The amount of Mako you got there is gonna kill us!"

"Don't be dramatic, Z1, I know what I'm doing. I have worked out a scientific equation to tell me how much Mako a body can absorb based on weight and muscle mass. That's not to say it won't be painful. It will be very painful I'm sure and well, negative side affects are to be expected."

"You're a goddamn, loony bin, Hojo," Zack said, then turned to Lyle who was holding one of the needles ready to insert it into his arm. "You stick me with that thing and I'll kick your ass, man!" he threatened. Lyle hesitated, looking visibly phased by Zack's statement. If Zack hadn't been strapped down to the chair he could have taken Lyle down in less than a second.

"Do your job, moron!" Hojo demanded. Lyle gave a firm nod and inserted the needle into Zack's arm. Once fully inserted, he applied pressure to the pump, forcing the Mako into his bloodstream. Zack had had his fair share of Mako treatments since joining SOLDIER and that was bad enough as far as he was concerned. Something that was unique to the feeling of Mako running through your body was the feeling that millions of tiny bugs had gotten up under your skin and were biting and stinging furiously setting your cells on fire. It attacks your muscles, tangling around their fibers and sending them into varying degrees of spasms. That was from a very small amount of Mako. At this amount, Zack felt his arm ablaze almost instantly. He gritted his teeth trying to bear what he knew was going to hit him like a ton of bricks.

Cloud had been watching intensely. From the look on Zack's face, it was going to be bad. Lyle had moved over to him and was getting ready to insert the needle. Beads of sweat mixing with the now drying blood on his face were rolling down to his chin and dropping into his lap. He felt the thin metal of the needle enter his flesh and he watched as the liquid was squeezed from the glass tube encasing it. He was shocked at how fast he felt it. It was almost instantaneous. He had to stop himself from crying out in surprise at the sudden pain as it felt like his arm was being held against a hot stove. He bit his lower lip and squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear Zack struggling against his restraints and groaning through his gritted teeth.

It took seconds for the fire to take over Cloud's entire body. He felt his muscles tightening against it and his lungs aching as he held his breath against the agony that was steadily building. He tightened his hands into fists as he felt like his skin come alive. Hundreds of thousands of fire ants stinging simultaneously. That's what it was like. He hated himself for his lack of restraint. He tried so hard to fight against the pain and stay silent, the way Zack managed to do but he couldn't. It felt like he was being burned alive and his muscles had begun to spasm. He had bit so hard into his lip that he drew blood and was now feeling the leather restraints cutting into his wrists as he pulled hard against them with the urge to leap from the chair and run in an attempt to outrun the horror of the situation.

The first cry of agony escaped him then and he found himself arching his back against the chair and pulling furiously on his restraints. He heard more of his own cries in his ears. And over them he thought he could hear Zack calling his name to him but he couldn't even look at him. _Please, please let me pass out_, he prayed in his head. Unconsciousness came. He didn't know when. But he was met with a haze of colour behind his eyes, blotted out by spots of black that slowly melded into one and then everything was dark, and quiet.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys

_Hey guys! Here's the third chapter! I've been trying to make the chapters longer but I only have limited time through the week to work on them so at this point it looks like 7 pages will be the average haha! But I figure it won't be too hard for me to put out two chapters a week so reallllly you're getting like 14 pages LOL _

_Anyway, I'd like to say thank you to y'all for reading this fic and I'd like to give a special thanks to Toons and Amarissa for their reviews. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to do that. My dream is to be a pro-writer some day so naturally my readers mean everything to me so I always love to hear what you guys have to say. Let me know if there's things you like or don't like or if you have a critique. I welcome all with open arms. Seriously :D_

_K, that's enough from me. Read on and enjoy! _

_Good Ol' Disclaimer: once again I don't own any of Final Fantasy. _

Chapter III

The first thing Cloud became aware of as he was waking was the overwhelming ache that seemed to encase his entire body. It reminded him of the early days in the SOLDIER academy and the pain he felt after a long training session. The difference however is that it never hurt to breathe after a training session. His ears picked up an odd sound then. He couldn't quite make out what it was. He opened his eyes, noticing he was back in the cell he and Zack shared, and tried to force himself to sit up on his cot. His head pounded furiously. He was covered in sweat. Next to his cot on floor he saw the small garbage can from the bathroom. He didn't even want to know what was in it. He had a pretty good idea though. Just then there was the sound of the toilet flushing and a few moments later Zack stumbled out. He looked pale and exhausted, his eyes heavy and sweat covering his face. His expression lit up a little though as he noticed Cloud was awake and sitting up.

"Heyyy, Spike! How ya feelin' buddy?" he asked as he took slow steps back to his own cot.

"Like shit," Cloud replied as he ran a hand through his hair. He caught sight of the bruising on his inner arm from all the needle work that had been done on him.

"Yeah…I hear ya," Zack huffed out as he flopped down on his cot on his back with his arm over his face, shielding his eyes from the light.

"Were you throwing up?" Cloud asked then, now realizing what the sound he heard must have been.

"Yeah," Zack responded with a short nod. "You have been too," he added, motioning to the trash can next to Cloud's cot. "It's 'cause of the Mako." Cloud's stomach turned just thinking about it. That injection was the worst thing he'd ever experienced. He'd never felt pain like that before.

"I feel like I've been run over," he said softly as he leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. Zack let out a dry laugh. "What?" Cloud asked in confusion.

"Just wait till later," he answered gravely.

"What do you mean?"

"It gets worse."

"Worse than this?!" Cloud exclaimed. He couldn't possibly imagine it being any worse. His body felt like it had been run through a meat grinder. He felt sick and his head pounded horribly with each breath.

"Yeah," Zack sighed, lowering his feet to the floor and coming to a sitting position on the edge of his cot. "For the first little while your body's defenses are in overdrive fighting off the Mako but the Mako eventually wins the fight, overpowering the defenses."

Cloud had been listening intently. He lowered his eyes to his lap. "When will that happen?" he asked finally.

"I dunno really…in 5, maybe 6 hours. Could be sooner," he replied slowly, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead with his hand.

"I'm gonna be sick," Cloud muttered then, pulling himself from his cot as fast as his body would go and nearly collapsing over the weakness in his legs before making his way into the bathroom to empty what little there was in his stomach. He was disturbed to see that there was an abundance of yellowish-brown bile that had built up in his stomach. There was no food. He didn't know when he had eaten last. When he was done he moved to the sink to rinse his mouth and splash some cold water on his face. When he lifted his head up he stared into small mirror and noticed first the heavy bruising on the left side of his face. There were some small cuts on his cheekbone and brow bone. They were crusted a little with dried blood. He winced as he tried to wash it off. _Fucking Reno…_he said silently in his head.

Just then he stopped, shocked at what he was seeing. He stared into his sky-blue eyes and took note of a bright ring around each iris. It was almost glowing. "What the hell…" he breathed in dreaded awe. "Hey, Zuh—Zack?" he stuttered not able to turn away from the mirror. He heard groaning as Zack lifted himself from his cot and made his way to the bathroom. He poked his head around to look at Cloud.

"What's up?" he asked casually.

"What's wrong with my eyes?"

"Oh. Yeah I have it too. Another side-affect," he explained grimly. Cloud looked at his friend's eyes to see that they did indeed have a similar glowing ring in each.

"This is really messed up, Zack…" Cloud said after gazing at his own eyes again for a few moments.

"Yeah…" was all that Zack could respond with.

They spent the next few hours either lying down or talking—well Zack talked. Cloud listened. He laid on his side trying to imagine away all the uncomfortable pain he was in, the newest being the pain in his abs and stomach from throwing up repeatedly.

Zack had just finished telling another story about some waitress he had known back in his hometown when Cloud rose and dragged himself to the washroom once again. He crouched and heaved once again only this time when he looked down he saw that there was clearly blood in the bowl. He felt himself getting light headed though his torso was beginning to feel like it was being taken over by a scorching fire. He fell to his hands and knees on the tile, feeling his abdominal muscles clenching hard. He could feel his sides start twitching before cramping up suddenly. A pained cry escaped him before he knew what was happening. Zack called his name too him but he couldn't respond. His jaw was clamped shut tightly as he tried to make himself breathe. The dark-haired young man appeared only seconds later.

"Cloud!" he exclaimed, dropping down next to him on the floor and gripping his shoulder.

"It—it huh—rts…s-so bad. Can b-barely br—eathe," Cloud struggled to form words.

"It's starting," Zack said, a hint of fear notable in his voice. "Hang on, kid, you'll be okay. You just have to ride it out."

Cloud couldn't respond. Zack pulled him up off the floor and helped him back to his cot where he laid him down carefully, watching him groan in rising agony. It didn't take long for Cloud's voice to find its way out. Only a half hour later he was crying out painfully as his muscles clenched themselves so hard Cloud felt like his whole body was being pressed into a vice. Zack tried to talk to him, to calm him but he doubted Cloud could even hear him he was so consumed in the pain.

Besides the bursts of movement Cloud made as his body went through spasms he would also periodically throw up and for the most part it was blood. That scared Zack. He had seen plenty of reactions to Mako and this wasn't a normal one. It suggested poisoning. That suspicion was confirmed when Zack noticed how profusely Cloud was sweating and upon touching his skin realized he had developed a seriously fever. Fevers were common reactions to the Mako but usually a person's temperature only went up a few degrees. Cloud's had skyrocketed. Frantically, he stripped Cloud down to his boxers and left him uncovered even from the blanket despite how cold Cloud probably felt. He was shaking against the chill.

Zack took off his shirt and soaked it in cold water. He rung it out and used it to try and cool Cloud down some. Over the slowly passing hours he'd become aware of his own body's reactions. He was in a significant amount of pain and had to fight with his body to maintain control of his movements. Sweat had dampened his hair and ran down the back of his neck in beads. His breathing had become laboured as he sat next to Cloud's cot, patting him down with the damp t-shirt wadded in his hand. His head had started spinning and he felt like he was sinking through the floor.

_Come on, Zack, fight this!_ he scolded himself. In response, his abdominal muscles clenched up and Zack let out a small cry, leaning forward and falling onto his side where he pulled his knees closer to his body and gripped his stomach. Fuzzy, black spots started to cloud his vision. _No! I have to stay awake…_he thought but though he tried with every ounce of strength to stay conscious it was too much to handle. Against his will, he fell back into the dark.

She was kneeling down by the edge of the flower bed, her shining honey brown hair cascading down her back. He watched her for a moment, the way she worked, humming to herself softly, pulling weeds from around the yellow and white flowers with such care. There was no sneaking up on her though. She could sense things and like always, she sensed his presence. Slowly, she looked back over her shoulder. Her bright eyes could light a room. A smile crossed over her face and she rose from the ground, turning, a mix of sheer happiness and something like relief in her expression. "Zack," she said his name like no one else could. He reached out for her and suddenly she was gone and there was darkness. _Aeris!_ He wanted to call out for her. He was aware then of something cold against his neck. He opened his eyes slowly to see an arm reaching down in front of him, two fingers checking his pulse.

"Get away from me!" he said, annoyance rushing out of him as he swatted away the arm with his hand. He lifted his upper body up painfully and looked up at Dr. Marsh who was staring down at him a little shocked. He glanced over to his left to see Cloud's cot empty. "Where's Cloud?" he fired at the doctor, struggling to bring himself to a stand.

"C4 is fine but he had to be taken to the medical sector," Marsh answered steadily.

"What's wrong with him?"

"He had a fairly strong aversive reaction to the Mako treatment."

"YA THINK!" Zack shouted, startling her a little.

"Try to calm down, Z1—" she tried to speak but Zack cut her off.

"DON'T TELL ME TO FUCKING CALM DOWN!" His face was red with anger. He saw the two Shinra guards who were accompanying the doctor step forward, presumably to subdue him. The doctor held up her hand, stopping them.

"Z1—" she started again to no avail.

"Stop fucking calling me that you cold science bitch! My name is Zack, I'm a goddamned human being! I had a life up until recently and a pretty good one I thought and you people have taken that away. Everything I had, all the people I loved. So don't tell me to calm down EVER! If I feel like flying off the handle I'll bloody-well do so!" One of the guards made a motion towards him. "Bring it you little Shinra kiss-ass!" he dared the guard. A fight would have taken place then if the doctor hadn't been in there.

"Stop!" she commanded the guard then turned back to Zack who scoffed and then fell into a sitting position on the edge of Cloud's cot. "Look, I need to assess your vitals to make sure your body is accommodating the Mako treatment," she said then, getting her stethoscope ready and stepping toward him. As she reached out Zack caught her wrist in a tight hold. It startled her and she gasped.

"The only way you're touchin' me, honey, is if I'm strapped down," he said firmly. The guard he had threatened came forward quick then and threw the butt of his semi-automatic into the side of Zack's face. It connected with a loud CRACK on his cheek bone and his head was thrown to the side. He let go of the doctor's wrist and brought his hand to his face. The guard was ready to strike him again but Marsh stopped him, directing him back to the door. She took a deep breath then crouched in front of Zack. He looked down into her deep brown eyes with confusion.

"Zee—" she began then stopped, clearing her throat and lowering her voice before beginning. "Zack. You need do let me do my job. Please. I'm not going to do anything to hurt you or Cloud."

Zack stared at her. She seemed honest. Though it really didn't make much of a difference he quickly realized. "No, maybe not you," he responded finally. She looked down. He could see the guilt in her expression. He shook his head and let out a long exhale. "Whatever. Do what you have to do," he said tiredly, slouching and leaning against the wall. The doctor nodded, giving a tight and awkward half-smile before starting to check Zack's vitals.

Besides a bit of a lingering fever and slightly elevated blood pressure, Zack had made it through the worst of the Mako effects. The doctor either couldn't or wouldn't tell him anything about Cloud however which drove him nuts. He sat in the quiet cell alone staring at the wall not really knowing what to think about. Every thought that came into his head was a painful one. The worst of all was the thought of Aeris waiting at the church for him, growing more and more disappointed that he didn't show up and getting worried as to why. Though, who's to say she'd be worried? Maybe she'd just get angry and then decide to hell with him. No. that wasn't Aeris.

"Goddamn you, Seph…" he muttered under his breath, seeing the man he had so admired in his mind. He was to blame. No. Somehow he couldn't believe that. In the back of his mind he knew, it always came back to Shinra…

It wasn't until the following morning that Cloud was returned to the room. He was brought back on a stretcher unconscious and moved onto his cot by the medical personnel who said nothing and left as quick as they came. He was pale, though not nearly as bad as the day before. His arms were dotted with small entry points from the IVs that had been hooked up to him. Besides feeling a little warm to the touch he seemed okay. He began to stir a few hours later. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes slowly and looking over at Zack who greeted him with a smile.

"Hey kid," he said softly, pulling himself off his own cot and then sitting on the edge of Cloud's.

"What happened?" Cloud asked groggily, his voice cracking a little.

"You just had a rough couple days is all," Zack replied, looking down at his hands. "How are you feeling?"

Cloud took a few steady breathes before answering. "Really…tired. And sore."

"Well, you should sleep," Zack suggested.

"No. I don't want to sleep. I feel like that's all I've been doing."

Zack laughed. "Well see, after a year and a half of complaining you never get to sleep you finally realized it's not that big a deal!" he joked.

"Yeah. Well if you and the other psychotic trainers didn't insist on SOLDIER initiates being insomniacs…"

"Hey! You know you did it to yourself plenty of times!" Zack retorted. It was true. Cloud thought back on his time in the academy and the nights he spent alone in the training centre trying to make himself stronger and faster and more skilled. It never seemed to be enough. Evidently it wasn't. Still, the memories weren't all bad.

It was a mere month into his enrollment at the academy. Cloud was down in the locker room of the training centre after a solo session of weight training when he was ambushed by 10 or 12 of the cadets from the barracks. There was a tradition in the academy that had been supposedly outlawed a few years back but was still attempted by new cadets every year. The tradition was to ambush a newbie and take him out to the academy courtyard and string him up upside down from the old oak in the centre where he would be left until the groundskeeper or someone else came across him. Apparently, though not really to Cloud's surprise, he was the chosen newbie.

His fellow cadets grabbed hold of him despite his protests and futile attempts to fight them all off. They picked him up and carried him out to the tree where a few others had been waiting with a rope already rigged over one of the tree's limbs.

"It's your lucky day, Strife!" a boy named Ben, who could only be described as the ringleader in the circus that was the new cadets, laughed. No doubt this was his idea. He had been on Cloud's case since the first day. Cloud struggled against the guys holding onto his upper body, restricting his movement. They pinned him to the ground and though he tried to kick them away, a few of them caught hold of his right leg and began to tie the rope around his ankle. _Shit…_was all that went through Cloud's mind.

"HEY!" a loud voice boomed over the crowd. The boys grew silent then and started to move away. The ones holding Cloud down rose to their feet. Cloud was confused. He tilted his head back and from his upside down vantage point on the ground he could see the shadowy figure of a first class SOLDIER.

"Oh great…" Cloud muttered seeing all the boys come to attention. He sat up and reached forward, struggling to untie the rope around his ankle before jumping to his feet and coming to attention just as the SOLDIER came to a stop in front of the group. He stood with his arms crossed in front of his broad chest. He looked at them with a disapproving, yet smug grin.

"Well well. Who wants to explain this one?" he asked in amusement. All were silent. A few boys at the back snickered.

"Okay well…since you seem to enjoy the courtyard so much I could put you all on yard duty during recreation hours for the next few weeks. I'm sure the groundskeeper will be thrilled!" There was silence momentarily then someone spoke up.

"It was Weeks' idea, sir," the cadet called from the back

"You stupid snitch!" Ben yelled back at him. The SOLDIER stepped up in front of Ben, towering over him.

"Cadet Weeks?" he looked down at him expectantly.

"It was only a joke, sir," Ben defended himself. The first class with the dark spiked hair laughed sarcastically.

"Ohhhh it was a joke!" he said. "And I'm sure Cadet…Strife found it hilarious," he added, checking Cloud's name tag to identify him. "We don't put up with this bullshit here, Cadet Weeks," he said seriously.

"I'm sorry, sir, it won't happen again," Ben said then.

"No…your damn right it won't. I'll show you why," he said with a wide grin. Less than a minute later, Ben was strung up in the tree, swinging back and forth as the cadets laughed.

That was the first time Cloud had had an encounter with Zack, the guy who would make it his mission to thwart Cloud's intentions to be ignored by all.

Cloud and Zack laughed at the memory. Their break from reality, however, came to a screeching halt when they heard the sound of the key pad being activated outside their door.

"What now?" Zack sighed as he waited for the door to open…


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey y'all! Hope all of you are having a better time with your life than I am right now lol. Yeah life tends to suck but lucky for you guys, when things get rough I immerse myself in my writing which means I'm more likely to put out a lot more of this fic faster! YAY! I think. I hope. Hopefully y'all are enjoying it so far. If it's starting out slow, I apologize. But our boys have a good five years of torture to go through so it's bound to be eventful XD. _

_A special thanks of course goes out to those of you taking the time to review, though I'm thankful to all of you just for taking the time to read the damn thing haha! So, that's all from me for now, read on and enjoy. _

_Good Ol' Disclaimer: I don't own any of Final Fantasy. Sad days. _

Chapter IV

Cloud and Zack watched as the heavy door to their cell opened and the first thing they caught sight of were the white lab coats. Two of Hojo's lab assistants, or the "lab asses" as Zack liked to call them" entered, followed by a Shinra guard. The one assistant was carrying a tray. On the tray were four plastic cups. Two of the cups had a small handful of different colored pills in them and the other two appeared to have water in them.

Zack crossed his arms in front of his broad chest and pasted that "I'm going to be the Stubborn Zack now" expression to his face. "Aw, you brought us candy, how nice," he said sarcastically.

"They're vitamins," the one assistant said.

"Hey…aren't you the lab ass that pumped us full of mako a few days ago?" Zack questioned, his eyes narrowing. The assistant ignored him, clearing his throat and reaching for the two cups of pills off the tray the other assistant was holding. Indeed it was the assistant named Lyle. He stepped forward reaching out a cup to both Cloud and Zack. Neither of them moved. "It's important you both take these to keep up your strength and health," Lyle explained uncomfortably.

"Oh, so you need us to take them so that we can be the perfect little specimens for Hojo's wack-job experiments?" Zack inquired. "Well screw you," he added. Lyle gave a frustrated sigh before responding.

"Either you take them orally, or we sedate you and administer them intravenously. Either way, you're going to get them," he said simply as he shrugged to show his indifference. It was a stare-down then between Lyle and Zack. Cloud broke the heavy moment however when he reached for the cup in Lyle's left hand. Zack looked at him shock.

"Cloud, what are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

"They're just vitamins, Zack, you really want to start a fight over them?" he answered tiredly. He raised his hand to bring the cup to his mouth. Zack grabbed his wrist, stopping him.

"You have no idea what they are. They could be lying about them being vitamins," he pointed out sternly.

"Do you really think it matters?" Cloud said softly, looking into his friend's dark violet-like eyes. Zack could feel Cloud pulling against his grip so he let his wrist go. As much as he hated to admit it, Cloud was right. It really didn't make a difference. Like Lyle said, if they didn't take them voluntarily, they'd be administered involuntarily and he didn't want to risk being dragged out of that room and separated from Cloud when an opportunity to escape arose. He watched Cloud tip the pills into his mouth and take the water given to him to wash them down. Lyle took the cups back and told him to open his mouth so he could see that Cloud had in fact swallowed them. After short inspection he nodded and then looked back at Zack expectantly.

"Well, hand it over then!" Zack said finally and snatched the cup from Lyle's grasp. He swallowed down the wad of pills with the water offered. He was about to hand the cup back but paused, a grin creeping across his face. "You know, I told you I'd kick your ass if you stuck me with that mako needle back in the lab," he said in a low tone. Lyle's brow furrowed. There was a heavy tension that struck like lightening then. Cloud knew automatically what was about to happen. The assistants and the guard had no idea though. Zack took the plastic cup and launched it at the other assistant. As it hit him in the face he turned and Zack pushed himself up off Cloud's cot delivering a hard right uppercut into Lyle's jaw. He fell to the floor instantly.

In the next instant, Zack had grabbed the next assistant, delivering a hit to his gut that had him on his knees on the tile. The guard was on him then ready with his baton to take Zack down. It was only a few moments before the guard was also sprawled on the floor and the door to the hall was sitting wide open. Zack turned back to the second assistant who was clutching his stomach and kicked him in the back, knocking him down flat. Cloud pushed himself to the edge of the cot, placing his feet on the ground and pushing himself up uneasily. Immediately he was collapsing from his still weak condition caused by the mako poisoning. Zack caught him though before he hit the floor and pulled Cloud's one arm around his neck so he could support him. Just as they turned for the door Zack felt something sharp puncture the skin of his calf muscle.

"OW!" he cried out and then looked down to his right where the second lab assistant was lying on the floor still holding onto a tranquilizer gun aimed at his right leg. "Son of a—" Zack started to explain but was cut short as he felt his lower body fall numb and he found himself crashing to the floor, Cloud falling to his hands and knees beside him

"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed, gripping his shoulders and turning him over to see he was knocked out. He contemplated trying to drag his body out of the room to make the escape but his thoughts were shadowed by the sound of the guard speaking into his communicator.

"All be advised, two Numbers from C-Sector attempting escape!" he spoke into it hastily as he started lifting himself off the floor.

"Shit," Cloud breathed as he looked down at Zack. _Why do I have to be so weak?_ he thought to himself. There was no way he could get them out of there on his own in his condition. He wanted to scream in frustration and desperation. He became aware of the guard hovering over him. Slowly he turned to look at him. He was met with the guard's disapproving look as he shook his head. In a split second, he had raised his baton and brought it down on the back of Cloud's head sending him instantly into unconsciousness.

Cloud passed back into consciousness a very short time later as he was being dragged through the hallway, two guards holding his arms, he was suspended between them and his feet dragged along the floor. Ahead he could see two other guards dragging Zack's limp form along also. His head spun as he lifted it. He felt like the guard's baton had split the back of his skull open. His blurry vision caught the sign above a set of double swinging doors before he was pushed through them. _D-Wing_. No doubt they were headed for the lab.

His suspicions were confirmed when they were led to a familiar steel door and brought inside. He could see the two large chairs awaiting him and Zack. Minutes later they were strapped down uncomfortably into them. Cloud looked over at Zack who was still unconscious, his head limp against his chest.

"Tsk tsk," came that voice he was quickly learning to dread. Out of the shadows of the other side of the lab, Hojo emerged. "Another attempt at escape, C4?" he questioned like a father who had just caught his son taking cookies from the cookie jar. You and Z1 are just making it more difficult for yourselves."

"Don't see how not trying is any better," Cloud mumbled in response. Hojo chuckled.

"Well if that's going to be your attitude I may have to start punishing you both for your attempts," he threatened rather happily.

"With what? More mako," Cloud scoffed.

"Of course not, C4, something much more fun than that."

Cloud sat silent then. He was struck in dreaded awe by the way Hojo had spoken that last statement. It was dripping in sadistic anticipation.

"You know, you are not like your friend, C4" Hojo continued in a lower tone. "I have a great deal of confidence that you will live up to my expectations, despite your numerous flaws and weaknesses." Cloud winced at the mention of weakness. It was a word that never failed to grip him painfully like a knife twisting round in his gut.

"Don't get your hopes up," Cloud said firmly, wanting to punch the creepy old man in the face. Hojo smiled eerily then looked at the door as it was opened suddenly. Dr. Marsh entered along with the third lab assistant that had been in the room the last time they were there. Quite obviously, Zack had inflicted injury to the other two. Cloud suspected they wouldn't see them for awhile.

"Well now. I suppose it's time we woke Z1 up," Hojo said, looking to his assistant and then back at Zack. "Galen," he cued the assistant who went for the cabinet nearby and pulled out a syringe and a small bottle of clear liquid. He filled the syringe then approached Zack, tapping the syringe and squeezing a bit of the liquid out to remove any air bubbles. He leaned over and inserted the needle into Zack's arm. After administering the liquid he stood back and watched. It took less than a minute for the drug to take its affect. Zack started to move his fingers and then raised his head stiffly, opening his eyes and looking around groggily.

"Damn," he sighed long and loud. "This isn't Vegas at all," he said sarcastically. "Though there is a sexy doctor and I am strapped down…" he added.

"Very funny, Z1," Hojo said, though not even pretending to be amused.

"Still going with the whole letter and number game, eh Hojo? Can I play too? Can I call you H666?"

"Dr. Marsh, please perform the preliminaries," he ordered the doctor who complied, going for the same cart she had used before. She went about with the same procedure as well, checking heart rates and blood pressure as well as ears and eyes.

"Z1 is fine for secondary procedures but I advice against it for Specimen C4. He's not fully recovered from the first testing session," the doctor reported to Hojo who looked at Cloud skeptically.

"No, I believe C4 will be fine, please move on to secondary procedures," he responded casually, marking down things on his clipboard. Dr. Marsh looked somewhat annoyed by Hojo refusing to follow her recommendations but she made no attempt to argue. She went ahead and began collected blood samples from both Zack and Cloud.

"Back to the Z1 thing, doc?" Zack asked as she was collecting the last sample from him. "Wasn't it Zack yesterday?" He caught Hojo looking their way. Marsh shot him a look of aggravation.

"_Shut up_" she said almost at a whisper through clenched teeth.

"Dr. Marsh?" Hojo questioned. She stood up and looked at him with a plain expression.

"Secondary procedures are complete," she said as she collected all the samples and then headed for the door. Cloud looked over at Zack curiously.

"What the hell was that about?" Cloud whispered. Zack just shook his head.

"Never mind," he whispered back.

"Galen, the injections, please," Hojo said then and the assistant went to work.

"You aren't seriously thinking of pumping us full of that green shit again are you?" Zack questioned Hojo, his anger coming to the surface quickly.

"Come now, Z1, you're smart enough to figure it out on your own," he said with some annoyance.

"You heard the doc, Cloud hasn't even recovered from the first one yet! You can't do that, it's bloody insane!"

"It is better to continue on while remnants of the first injection are still lingering. It will not force the same foreign reaction as the first."

"How the fuck do you know what reaction it'll have! Is that another of your brilliant calculations, like the one that supposedly told you how much Mako our bodies can take without being poisoned? Sure worked for Cloud, didn't it?"

Zack was nearly shouting. Cloud wasn't really paying attention to the argument. He was too focused on watching Galen prepare the injections. His stomach turned as he thought about the pain and the sickness that would follow. He watched with wide, unblinking eyes that were threatening him with tears of helplessness. _Please no_, he begged within his head to whatever god was listening if there was one. He watched Galen move toward Zack, beginning to prepare his arm with a spot of iodine on a cotton ball.

"Hojo, you do this and I swear the first chance I get I'm gonna tear your fuckin' head off!" Zack yelled at him, the veins in his neck pulsing with fury. Hojo appeared unaffected as he nodded to Galen who began inserting the needle.

It didn't matter how much Cloud pleaded silently or wished to be spared from the inevitable. The mako was pumped into his arm, searing his veins as it rushed through his body, attacking every cell and climbing from his mouth in the form of verbalized agony. _Take me away from myself, please…anywhere…_

To his surprise his wish was granted. He found himself thrown back into a memory.

"You're really gonna be a SOLDIER?" Tifa asked him, her long dark chestnut hair fluttering in the wind as they sat together under the shade of a big willow. He nodded, not looking at her, but playing with a few blades of grass in front of his crossed legs. "But you'll come back right?" she questioned next. He looked up at her, his bright blue eyes meeting her deep dark ones.

"Should I?" he responded awkwardly. He hadn't imagined himself coming back to Nibelheim, only that he was leaving.

"Well, don't you want to?" He laughed dryly at that, and returned to playing with the grass. "What if _I_ want you to?" his eyes snapped up to meet hers again but she too had moved her stare to the ground.

"Do you?" he questioned, the surprise clear in his voice. No one had ever wanted him in Nibelheim. In fact, the whole town seemed ecstatic that he was leaving.

She smiled at the ground. "Can you promise me something?" He was silent but kept his eyes on her. "When you become a SOLDIER…will you promise to come back and help me if I ever get into trouble?" She moved to meet his eyes then. He was struck with awe. She really did want to see him again.

"I promise," he agreed softly, nodding once to affirm that. "His watch began beeping at him then, signaling to him it was time for him to get to the bus station. He turned away from Tifa, reaching to shut the alarm off. "I gotta go," he said then, pulling himself to a stand. He reached a hand down to help Tifa to her feet. He gave her a half-smile and went to leave. Tifa held onto his hand, pulling him back.

"Cloud!" she said his name with a hint of urgency in her voice. He turned back, looking first at where her hand was gripping his and then into her face. There was something in her expression. She actually seemed sad that he was leaving. She stepped close to him, standing only inches away. She reached up and kissed him lightly on his left cheek then stepped back, smiling at him "Take care," she said. "I'll write to you."

Cloud had to force himself to keep his stoic expression. He was unable to keep himself from grinning though. "Later, Teef," he said then before turning from her and heading off for the road to the bus station. He felt his face grow red as he thought of the kiss she just gave him. When he made it to the road he looked back at where Tifa still stood by the willow a few hundred yards away. She raised her arm and waved at him. He hesitated a moment and then raised his hand for a casual wave before making his way down the road.

There was a flash of white then and he saw Tifa's face again. Only this time she was unconscious, scratches marred the one side of her fair face and she was covered in ash. There was a deep slash across her stomach that was bleeding out into a small puddle on the ground.

"Teef!" he exclaimed in horror as he grabbed her and tried to wake her. "TIFA!" She wouldn't wake. He took his uniform jacket off, ripping out the lining and using it to roughly bandage Tifa's stomach. He heard a loud cry then from somewhere near by. It was coming from inside the reactor and it sounded like Zack. He turned his head and saw a huge fire burning in the near distance. Nibelheim. Gone. Everyone dead or dying. "Don't worry, Teef," he said to her unconscious form as he put his jacket over her upper body to keep her warm. "I'll be back, I promise," he spoke fast then leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of her head, holding her head against his chest for a moment trying to build up the strength to leave her. _Zack. I have to make sure he's okay._

He forced himself to leave Tifa and ran for the reactor. It was eerily quiet despite the mechanical sounds of the reactor. He saw Zack's buster sword lying near the top of a metal staircase. Reaching the top he stared down in horror at his friend lying near the bottom on his back, a deep wound bleeding out as he lay still. He raced down the steps nearly tripping and stumbling down. He fell to his knees beside Zack, placing a hand over his wound, feeling the blood pushing in between his fingers as Zack breathed. "ZACK!" he shouted at him. He coughed and opened his eyes slowly.

"Spike. You gotta get Sephiroth—" he struggled to form words

"Sephiroth did this?!" Cloud exclaimed in confusion.

"Finish him off, kid. You can do it. Go!" he commanded, pushing at Cloud weakly. He watched as Zack slipped back into unconsciousness. He stared wide-eyed then looked up to where Sephiroth stood. He was standing as if in a trance in front of a large glass tank. His anger boiled up inside him as he took off up the stairs, grabbing Zack's buster sword as he went. He charged at Sephiroth, the man who had been his hero as far back as he could remember. His idol. The one he always wanted to be like. When Zack's sword sliced through the General's back he felt a piece of himself die. The piece that had held his dreams. Sephiroth seemed stunned. He stood, rigid, frozen in time. It wasn't until Cloud pulled the blade back that Sephiroth turned, his eyes blazing with something truly terrifying.

"_You_," he seethed, narrowing his eyes. Cloud sensed what was coming a split second too late as Sephiroth's retaliation sent him flying into the nearest wall where he dropped to the floor with a thud. He struggled to move himself as he heard the sounds of Sephiroth coming towards him. He looked up just in time to see Sephiroth's sword coming at him. Like cutting through butter, the cold steel shot cleanly through his torso and he cried out loudly, his nerves set on fire. That wasn't the worst of it as he felt his body leaving the ground, his entire weight on the blade that continued to slice through him millimeter by millimeter. "Pathetic," Sephiroth scoffed as he held Cloud suspended in the air.

Cloud closed his eyes. Faces were flashing in front of him. Teachers, neighbors, peers, everyone who'd ever said he was worthless, weak, useless, a failure…Then came the faces of the only people who'd ever believed in him, his mother, Tifa, Zack…If they were going to die he was not going to let it be in vain. Slowly, he opened his eyes and through gritted teeth he spoke. "_You're the pathetic one_," he said, his words dripping in his anger. He gripped Sephiroth's sword and began to pull himself further down the blade. The pain was almost unimaginable but it was worth it to see the look on Sephiroth's face. His feet touched the floor finally and he summoned every ounce of his strength to lift the General off the floor himself.

"Impossible," he remarked as he stared wide-eyed at Cloud.

"I only ever wanted to be like you," Cloud said, struggling to keep himself steady. "And now I've never been happier I'm not!"

With that said, he swung the blade, sending Sephiroth into the reactor where he seemed pinned by the electricity momentarily as he let out a howl of agony. Then, he was falling, dropping into the dark depths below the reactor. Still gripping the blade imbedded in his chest he slid it out slowly. It seemed 30 feet long. The tip finally came out with a slight popping sound and the blood began to flow quickly. _Zack_ he thought. _I need to check on him_.

He never made it to Zack. As he reached the top of the stairs his knees gave out and he found himself falling, his upper body upon the first few steps. Through his blurring vision he could see a line of blood trailing from his torso, running with gravity down the stairs. He thought he heard Zack say his name then but he couldn't be sure because it was only a few seconds later that he was taken into unconsciousness.

Cloud woke with a start. He had been dreaming. No. Not dreaming. Remembering. Dreaming his memories. He felt like he'd been crushed in a garbage compactor. He knew he was back in the cell he and Zack shared, lying on his cot. Before he knew it, his emotions were choking him. Up until then he had used all his will power not to think about the events that had led up to their current situation. But the dream brought it all back. His mother, Tifa. Chances are they had both died because of Sephiroth. His feelings bubbled to the surface then and he started to weep. He curled up on his left side, facing the wall and let the tears flow freely.

Zack stirred from his restless sleep. He looked up at the ceiling of the room. He couldn't even remember being brought from the lab. _I must have passed out_, he thought. His ears picked up the sound of something. It sounded almost like muffled crying. He turned his head to where Cloud lay, his back turned to him. In the dim light, he could see he was trembling. "Cloud?" he spoke his name softly. He didn't answer. Stiffly, Zack pulled himself up from his cot, fighting the overwhelming weakness in his body and the awful feeling like pins and needles that prodded him all over and moved to Cloud's side. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I should have saved them, Zack," Cloud said in a tear-filled voice. Zack exhaled slowly before pushing Cloud over a little and taking a position on his cot next to him, sitting with his back against the wall.

"You did all you could, Spike," he said sincerely, wishing to hell he could do something to make Cloud feel better.

"Why does life have to hurt so much?" he said in almost a child-like innocence. Zack thought about it. His optimistic instinct told him to say _cheer up, buddy, it'll get better! _But even he knew that was bullshit. He couldn't remember a time when life didn't hurt. He thought back to his time as a SOLDIER second class and his mentor at the time, Angeal. That was probably the best his life had ever been. Since then it had been nothing but struggle. Still, he couldn't just sit there and not say anything. He placed his hand on the back of Cloud's head, feeling his blonde spikes in between his fingers.

"I guess…it makes us stronger," he answered half-heartedly, not even sure he really believed it. There was silence then. Cloud sniffled, getting control of his emotions once again. He took a deep breath and let it out slow.

"I don't feel well," he said with an exhausted sigh.

"Well…just keep facing that way. I don't want any of what you got to offer in my lap," he joked. Cloud laughed a little.

"Jerk," he said lightly with a half smile.

"That's why you love me, Spike," Zack said through his own wide grin, ruffling Cloud's hair into his eyes purposely until Cloud batted his hand out of the way. Secretly, they were both terrified. They were in for a long night of taking turns to the washroom to empty what little was in their stomachs and Zack couldn't get the feeling out of his head that the next day was going to have something quite different planned for he and Cloud…


	5. Chapter 5

_Hmm…two chapters over the span of two days…pretty damn good if I do say so myself haha! I made the effort to push this one out now cause I'm not entirely sure that I'll be able to update till next weekend. I'll try though. I promise :D _

_Thank you, everyone for reading and reviewing. You know I appreciate the hell out of it lol _

_Take care guys, I'll catch y'all later! That's all from me, read on and enjoy!_

_Good Ol' Disclaimer: I TOTALLY OWN FINAL FANTASY…yeah…not so much. _

_­­­­­­­­­­­_

Chapter V

"Well isn't that sweet?" a familiar voice broke the silence in the small room, rousing both Zack and Cloud from their light and uneasy slumber. Reno and Rude stood just inside the doorway to their cell, smirking. Zack was still in a slumped sitting position on Cloud's cot with his back against the wall. After the last trip Cloud had made to the bathroom the night before he had come back and sat next to Zack but sometime over the following hours he had slid down a bit and was leaning into Zack, his head against Zack's chest. He looked up at Zack, feeling a bit embarrassed but too tired and in too much pain to really care. He pushed himself back up to a sitting position and brought his hand to his forehead, wiping away the sweat that had collected there over the hours.

"What the hell do you want?" Zack asked Reno, the effects of the mako clear in his voice. It was strained and exhausted.

"It's time for a little early morning training," Reno said in amusement. Both Zack and Cloud were confused.

"Don't you have to be somewhere, Reno?" Zack fired at him "Like kissing the President's ass. You are his cabana boy aren't you?"

Reno wasn't amused at that comment. His expression changed into something of a scowl but as quick as it came, he laughed it off and turned to Rude, grinning wide. "His girlfriend can be first," he said.

"First for what?" Cloud asked then, fearing more mako was coming.

"Oh…you'll find out, don't worry," Reno assured him, winking at him. "Let's go, Strife," he said, stepping forward. Zack could feel Cloud tense up next to him. He started to push himself forward but Zack stopped him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"You better get that lab ass with the tranquilizer, Reno, if you think I'm gonna let you and Baldy over there" he nodded towards Rude who stood at the door still "take Cloud anywhere alone."

Cloud shifted his glance from Reno to Zack noticing the seriousness in his friend's expression. Reno raised his one eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Come now, Fair. You have no trust. Fine, you can come alone. As long as you're going to be a willing little participant. Save us calling the reinforcements."

Zack laughed. "Yeah you _would_ need them," he answered. As much as he hated to comply with that sleazy excuse for a Turk, he knew it was pretty pointless to resist. He wasn't feeling particularly capable of taking down an army at the moment.

"Shall we then?" Reno said, ignoring Zack's verbal jab and gesturing for the door. Zack pulled himself off the cot, using the wall to steady himself. He reached out a hand to help Cloud up. He seemed a little uneasy.

"Alright?" Zack asked him, holding onto his elbow. He looked like he was going pass out standing the way the color fell from his face. He wavered a little then seemed to gain back a little strength. He nodded at Zack.

"Don't worry, Fair, I'll make sure your little lady makes it alright," Reno said smugly as he gripped Cloud's upper arm and started to lead him to the door.

Zack shook his head. "Do us all a favor and drop dead, Reno," he responded. Rude went to reach for him. "Don't you fuckin' touch me, Baldy," he snapped and followed Reno out into the hall.

They were brought to a part of the basement they hadn't been in as of yet. Reno stopped outside a door where two Shinra guards stood. One of the guards opened the door. Inside there was another door to the right and a set of stairs leading upward directly ahead. Reno opened the door on the right and pushed Cloud on in. Zack went to follow, but Rude held onto the back of his shirt and pushed him toward the stairs.

"HEY!" Zack protested in confusion.

"You'll get your turn, Pretty Boy," Reno yelled back to him. Cloud looked back in fear. _What's going to happen? _was the only thought that raced through his mind. He was led down a long hall into what looked like a locker room. The first people he saw were the lab assistant Galen and Dr. Marsh. There were two Shinra guards nearby as well.

"C4, please come have a seat," Marsh said to him, motioning to the bench next to her.

"What the hell's going on?" Cloud questioned firmly, trying to hide how afraid he actually was.

"She said sit down," Reno said, pushing him down onto the bench. He looked to see Galen with a syringe in his hand. It shocked Cloud's defenses into overdrive and he shot up, his back hitting the lockers behind him loudly. The Shinra guards took a few steps toward him then.

"Please, relax and sit down," the doctor said calmly. Cloud looked at the guards, both had their batons out. Reno was also standing near with his EMR looking annoyingly smug as always. His heart beat hard in his chest. The doctor reached up and took hold of his wrist lightly, urging him to sit. He lowered himself slowly.

"Wha-what is that?" he asked, looking at the syringe Galen was filling with a dull orange-colored liquid.

"It's a compound of proteins, steroids, and epinephrine," the doctor explained, taking his arm and tying it off with a tourniquet.

"Why?"

Dr. Marsh looked at him. She had been avoiding his eyes. He saw her expression change as she met his wide blue orbs. She had purposely been trying not to look at him because she knew what would happen if she did. She had worked with many of Hojo's specimens. He rarely had human ones and it was never like this. They weren't kept captive against their will. And they were never this young. When she looked at Zack she saw a young man, barely an adult but trying to take on the world, refusing to believe he won't stay on top of it. When she looked at Cloud though, she saw a boy, just barely a young man. He seemed like any other teenager at first glance but when she looked into his eyes she was overwhelmed by the pain, confusion, and innocence that was locked inside them. He should have been out enjoying his youth, taking in as much of the good the world had to offer, not sitting in a cold and dusty basement in some old mansion getting experimented on like some animal. She blinked then, realizing she had been staring at him a little long.

"It's going to combat the negative effects of the mako injections," she answered finally, tearing her eyes away from him and taking the syringe from Galen. She inserted the needle into the skin of his inner elbow, picking a spot that was less bruised from previous needlework. After administering the compound she removed the needle and handed it back to Galen. She removed the tourniquet from his arm and then reached for a cotton ball to hold against the spot on his skin that was forming a small bead of blood.

"I don't understand why you're doing this to us," Cloud's soft voice broke into her thoughts. She glanced at the guards and Reno who were engaged in a conversation then looked back up at Cloud.

"I wonder myself sometimes," she said in a low tone, not really meaning to let her honesty slip out. He seemed even more perplexed by her answer than before.

"Ya done yet or what, doc?" Reno called over to Marsh.

"Finished," she said, nodding.

"Great!" Reno exclaimed. "Time for the real fun!" he added, grinning wide.

The guards walked over to Cloud, one taking his arm and pulling him to a stand. He was shocked at how strong he felt. Whatever that injection was supposed to do, it was doing it quick. He was led out a different door than the one he'd entered and into a large room. It reminded him of one of the training rooms from the academy. Up above in one of the walls was a row of windows. Cloud spotted Zack standing at the glass.

"What the fuck is this?" Zack said to himself, as he saw Cloud below. The door to the room opened then and Zack felt the rage boil up in him instantly as he set eyes upon Hojo entering with one of the assistants Zack had taken down the day before. The assistant's name he would learn was Nate.

"Well, it's good to see you Z1" Hojo said casually.

"What the hell is going on, Hojo?" Zack asked, trying to keep himself from shouting

"Will one of you please cuff the specimen," Hojo instructed the guards, ignoring Zack's question. One stepped forward and took Zack's wrists behind his back, snapping cuffs onto them. "If you want to remain up here, I suggest you keep control of yourself," Hojo said then, getting himself comfortable in a chair in front of the window overlooking the room below.

Cloud shuddered as he saw Hojo appear in the window above. He looked almost as excited as someone sitting in a movie theatre waiting to see a brand new blockbuster. He snapped back to reality when he heard a hollow clunking sound on the floor in front of him. He looked down at the wooden bow staff resting a foot away at his feet.

"Time to rock and roll, baby boy," Reno said, twirling a similar bow staff around in his hands.

_Great_, Cloud thought as he bent down and picked the staff up in his hand. It had been awhile since he had trained with a bow staff. The last time was probably near the end of his prelims at the academy. Give him a sword though and he'd be golden. But then, they probably knew that. He held the staff lightly, looking it over and lifting it horizontal to feel for the natural centre. He thought back to his lessons and the sets he had been forced to repeat over and over till it was engrained his mind. He hoped it still was. He twirled it a few times, trying to get her bearings and then fell into starting formation. He locked his eyes on Reno, who seemed at a slight loss for what to do.

"Your move, Shinra bitch," Cloud said, unable to keep himself from cracking a small smile.

"Heh," Reno iterated, standing back casually. Cloud had picked up quick on Reno's routine. Stand there looking dumb and throw the opponent off with a sudden quick attack. Naturally, the routine was upheld. Cloud was ready though, blocking Reno's staff as it came down toward his face. Reno seemed ticked that he had been ready for his attack. He came with his hits almost too fast for Cloud to keep up. His technique was really rusty. He just barely managed to keep control of the staff as it nearly slipped from his grasp more than once. But he kept himself focused, anticipating each of Reno's moves the best he could and most of the time he was successful. The other times he was lucky enough to dodge or defend just in time to miss being hit with the end of Reno's staff.

The minutes passed and soon it was drawing on half an hour of non-stop battling. The first odd thing Cloud was aware of was that, unlike Reno, he wasn't really breathing hard. He was able to keep control of his breathing quite easily though he was sweating a lot. He was aware of the dull pain in his muscles from being worked but it was nothing like it should have been.

"Yes!" Hojo exclaimed from his seat. Zack looked over at him with a questioning glance.

"What the fuck are you so happy about, old man?" he questioned.

"The drugs have been successful in inhibiting the aversive effects of the mako," he said in excitement, though more to himself than to Zack. He scribbled down a bunch of notes on his clipboard.

_Drugs?_ Zack wondered as he turned his eyes back to Cloud.

It was just past the hour mark when Cloud was to lose his advantage. Reno made a short horizontal cut from the right and knocked Cloud's bow staff from his grip. He tried to catch it but it was too late. Reno jabbed the end of his staff into Cloud's gut, pushing him back a few steps as he gripped his stomach and tried to get the air back that was knocked out of him. The end of the staff came at him again, this time slashing diagonally from the left and catching the right side of his face. It tore into the skin and drew blood. Cloud fell to his left knee. He looked up in time to see the staff coming down again. He reached up and caught it in his right hand. Reno looked down at him angrily as he tried to pull back. When that didn't work he pushed off the ground into a flip. Cloud cursed himself for what he realized was going to happen just a fraction of a second before it happened. He should have let go of the staff. Reno's move twisted his wrist back fast and hard bringing from it a loud SNAP that Zack could hear all the way up in the viewing room. He winced painfully when he heard it. It was followed fast by Cloud's startled cry of pain.

Reno laughed and then swung the staff down on Cloud's right shoulder from behind as he was gripping his wrist. He fell forward onto his left side. _Stay focused_, Cloud pleaded with himself to keep control though the pain was excruciating. He turned onto his back quick and seeing the opportunity, he kicked Reno's right shin hard, which threw him back a little. He came back fast though bringing the staff down in a vertical cut. Cloud stopped it once again in the hold of his hand, this time his left. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice though. Using what strength he had he forced the bow staff back. It must have been a strong push because it slid through Reno's hands and hit him in the chin, knocking him back against the wall, he let go of the staff and Cloud swung it to the left. He couldn't use it with one hand anyway.

He got to his feet quickly and prepared for Reno's attack. It was hand to hand combat now. He couldn't do a heck of a lot in terms of offence. He was right handed and with his now broken wrist there was no way he was going to be able to use his right fist. The next mistake he made though was raising his right forearm instinctively to block one of Reno's jabs. He had been using his left arm but it was only natural to raise his right now. Reno, being the dirty fighter he was, took the opportunity to grab his wrist in his left hand and with a tight hold he twisted, forcing Cloud to let out a loud cry as Reno pulled his arm down.

"STOP THIS!" Zack yelled at Hojo then, who paid no attention to him. He was fully immersed in the tense fight.

Reno maintained his tight grip on Cloud's wrist as Cloud clapped a hand over Zack's, trying to pry his fingers off him. He continued to apply pressure and twist, forcing Cloud down to his one knee. Cloud looked up at Reno, the sweat was dripping off both their faces. Through tightly clamped teeth Cloud spoke. "_Let go_" he demanded, barely managing to form words. Reno smiled.

"Does it hurt, baby boy?" he mocked. "I'm sure your boyfriend up there will be able to kiss it better later."

Cloud gathered up another round of anger, enough to push himself forward along with Reno, throwing Reno down to the floor. Reno lost his grip on Cloud's wrist and let go as he fell back. Cloud was over him in a second and used the opportunity to deliver a hard left hook to his face. It drew blood from Reno's mouth. Cloud didn't see his retaliation though as Reno's boot hit him square in the chest, sending him onto his own back on the floor. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing hard. He choked on an inhale then as Reno's knee came down on his stomach and was held there, applying just enough pressure to make it near impossible to breathe.

Zack was furious. Even though his arms were restrained behind him he turned to launch himself at Hojo. "YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU STOP THIS NOW!" Zack shouted angrily as he was stopped by the two Shrina guards who had a difficult time holding him back. Hojo looked at him with one cocked eyebrow. _He's analyzing me! _Zack realized. _He's fucking analyzing me right this second!_ "You've had your fun with Cloud, Hojo, now let him out of there! He's hurt! If you wanna observe someone, then you can observe me, you got it?!" It was more of a plea than a demand though Zack tried to sound threatening. A smile crept across Hojo's face.

"Fine," he agreed at last. Zack exhaled and looked back at Cloud.

"You just can't win, baby boy," Reno said, continuing on with his string of snide remarks.

"Some fair fight," Cloud barely managed to get his words out as he tried to suck in as much oxygen as he could to keep himself from passing out. Reno had him pinned, his knee in his gut and his right hand holding down his left arm. "Gimme a sword and I'll hack that stupid smirk off your face."

"Is that right?" Reno asked, digging his knee in harder. Cloud let out a small cry, expelling what air he had managed to bring in. "Those are some pretty hostile remarks. If I didn't know any better I'd say you didn't get enough love as a child." He lowered his face to within an inch of Cloud's. "Am I right?" he whispered eerily. Cloud turned his head from Reno only to have him grip his jaw tightly and force him to face forward. They were eye-locked then. Cloud was bubbling inside with hate. He wanted so bad to be able to beat the shit out of Reno right then and there. There was the sound of a door opening nearby. Reno's eyes shifted to the right momentarily then he looked back at Cloud. "Don't worry, baby boy," He said then, his face so close that Cloud could feel the heat from his breath on his own face. "You're not really my type." He smirked then and let go of Cloud's jaw, patting the side of his face and then rising, taking his knee from Cloud's stomach as he came to a stand and turned to walk away.

Cloud began coughing as the air rushed into his lungs fast. He could hear the sound of two sets of footsteps coming toward him. He turned his head to see two Shinra guards coming for him. He sat up slowly, gripping his stomach. The guards reached down, taking his arms and pulling him up. They led him from the room and back to his and Zack's cell. It was only then, after he was left alone, that he realized he had been bleeding down the side of his face. The blood had run down his neck and into the material of his shirt. His wrist throbbed insanely. It was so bad he just wanted to throw himself into the wall and knock himself out to get away from the pain. Not seeing much of a choice, he sat himself down on the floor and pulled his shirt off. Using his one hand and his teeth he ripped up the material to create a sling. It was impossible to keep his wrist still through the entire progress and every time it moved he could feel bone and cartilage grinding together and he swore he could almost hear it. It was swollen and turning to a dark purple. Slowly, he slid his arm into the hastily-made sling. Though it still hurt like a bitch, having it resting on something was significantly better. He thought about going into the washroom to take care of whatever wound on his face was bleeding but he was too tired. His head ached so bad. He began to wonder if maybe the injection he had been given before the fight was wearing off because he was starting to feel very weak and his muscles tenser.

He sighed, tilting his head back on the edge of the mattress on his cot. He knew he should at least get off the floor and onto his cot but even that seemed like two much of a hassle. Instead, he stayed where he was and closed his eyes, letting himself drift in and out of awareness. What only felt like minutes later the door opened and Zack was returned, the door shut after him. He seemed fine, except for some abrasions on his one cheek and a small cut on his lower lip.

"That was fast," Cloud mumbled, looking up at Zack through his heavy and slightly blurry eyes.

"Cloud!" he exclaimed, lowering himself in front of his friend. "You okay?" he asked, the concern etched throughout his face.

"I guess it wasn't much of a challenge for you…" he went on, seemingly oblivious to Zack's question which wasn't very comforting to Zack. Though it wasn't surprising, he realized Cloud was probably in shock from his injury.

"I'll be right back, Spike," Zack said then, rising and entering the washroom where he dampened the only hand towel there was and went back to Cloud. Placing a hand on Cloud's forehead to hold him still he dabbed at the long cut on his face that ran diagonally almost to the corner of his mouth.

"I wish I could fight like you, Zack," Cloud spoke, breaking the silence. Zack paused to look him in the eyes. He smiled.

"Well I think you did a pretty good job holding your own," he responded, then went back to cleaning the blood from Cloud's face and neck. "Especially with a bow staff. When the fuck do we ever use those?" he laughed. A small smile broke across Cloud's face but Zack could feel the self-shame coming off Cloud. Something Cloud never failed to give up on was beating himself down.

"It's funny," Cloud said then, though it almost seemed like he was saying it to himself.

"What is?" Zack inquired, wiping away the last bit of blood at the base of Cloud's neck.

"It's funny that…you can forget so easily what the sky looks like. It makes you wonder if you just never really looked at it when you had the chance…"

Cloud was looking at the ceiling. Zack glanced up then looked back at Cloud. He realized then that he had to get them out of there as soon as the next opportunity arose…


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys

_Hey guys! I'm sorry to have kept y'all waiting, believe me I would choose to sit and write all day long everyday if I could haha! But unfortunately I was swamped with crap to do for school this week, which I technically am not done with but I decided to say screw it and take a break to get this next chapter out. It's a little shorter than usual though. Sorry 'bout that. I'll make it up to you guys with a super-long chapter for next time! Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Ya'll seem to be really enjoying the fic which makes me incredibly happy! :D Remember, I always appreciate your comments if you have any. That's all from me, read on and enjoy! _

_Good ol' disclaimer: FF ain't mine, yo. LOL k, I'm done. _

Chapter VI

THWAP! The newspaper hit the wall hard and fell to the floor, its sheets separating. Tifa put her hands to her face covering her eyes and shaking her head as she forced herself to hold back her frustrated tears. Her stomach ached a little then over the stress she had worked into herself and she had to shift a little in the bed she was resting in, propped up by pillows in a slight inclined position. It seemed like she had been in bed forever. Doctors orders. If she got up and moved around too much she risked re-injuring herself. She pulled her shirt up slightly to stare down at the long line of stitches across her silky midriff. She had been lucky. That's what she was told when she woke up in the hospital. The wound was not deep enough to have damaged any of her organs or internal tissues. Still it had been close. The doctors said she would have bled out if it hadn't been for the rough bandage that had been tied around her wound.

"Cloud," she said his name just barely above a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me it was you…"

A few days after she had awakened in the hospital, she had been shown the military jacket that had been wrapped around her to keep her warm and on the inside was an identification tag. _Strife, Cloud_. She wished she could remember what happened. The newspaper said two bodies had been recovered from inside the reactor but that they were unidentifiable. Further down in the column it had mentioned that recovered identification indicated the bodies most likely belonged to SOLDIER, 1st Class, Zackary Fair, and PFC Cloud Strife of the Shinra militia.

Tifa just couldn't believe it. Literally. She refused. Everything inside her told her that the papers were wrong. Cloud wasn't dead. She would feel it.

She wasn't the only one to read the paper that morning. Aeris had come down from her room early to find her mother sitting at the kitchen table with the paper in front of her, looking like she had been crying. When Aeris entered the kitchen she looked at her with deep sympathy shrouded in her eyes.

"Oh Aeris…" was all she could whisper before sliding the paper towards her. Her eyes scanned the page until she hit the name that seemed to leap out of the page at her. _Zackary Fair_. She felt her heart stop as she read over what the paper was trying to say. "I'm so sorry," her mothered breathed, rising from her seat and placing her arms around her daughter's shoulders.

"No…" Aeris whispered, her eyes wide and starting to blur as the tears began gathering. "No. It's wrong, Mother, they've got it wrong, Zack's not dead!" she said in horror as the first tears sprung from her eyes to roll down her cheeks.

"Honey…" her mother tried to sympathize with her and keep her calm.

"NO!" she shouted, feeling almost angry that someone would actually try to convince her that something so terrible had actually happened. She pulled from her mother's grasp and headed for the front door quickly. It wasn't until she had reached the church that she collapsed on her knees near her host of flowers, her face in her hands as she let herself cry freely. Her soft sobs echoed off the church walls and pillars for a few minutes until she wiped some of the tears from her cheeks and gazed up at the damaged roof where the sunlight poured in through dozens of holes. The warm rays reached her down on the floor. She exhaled a weary sigh, her heart physically aching in grief. "It's not true," she whispered. "Zack…where are you?"

It seemed to be about early afternoon before Zack heard the sound of the keypad being activated outside the room. His eyes watched the door intently in anticipation, wondering who it would be this time. Dr. Marsh entered the room first, followed by two Shinra guards, one of which wheeled in a tray. Immediately Zack spotted two plate covers.

"Oh, so you guys finally remembered we eat, huh?" he asked, his voice coming out shakier than he wished. The drugs that he and Cloud had been given in the early morning had worn off and they were at the mercy once again of the after effects of mako.

"Where's C4?" Dr. Marsh asked, her eyes darting from his empty cot to Zack.

"Who?" he asked, shaking his head in mock confusion. Marsh looked at him strangely, not understanding. Then she realized what he was doing. She sighed.

"Cloud," she said softly, giving in to what he wanted to hear.

"Ohhhh, Clouuuud," he said in hyperbolic measure. "He's in there," he added, nodding with his head in a gesture towards the washroom. The doctor looked toward the small doorway that led into the bathroom 'nook' before reaching onto the tray and picking up two plastic cups.

"Here, take these," she said, reaching the cups out to Zack. It was the supposed 'vitamins.' He took them from her reluctantly. She didn't wait for him to swallow them before picking up the other two cups and heading to the bathroom. "Cloud?" she said his name first to alert him that she was coming in. She felt instantly terrible as her eyes came to rest on the poor boy. He was slumped over the toilet, sitting on the floor, his left arm resting on the seat and his forehead resting on his forearm. Accept for the slight trembling of his body he made no movement when she came in. She set the cup of water in her one hand down next to the sink and then crouched down next to Cloud, placing a hand on his bare and sweating back. He twitched a little under her touch. "Are you alright?" she asked him uneasily. Her eyes shifted back to the doorway where Zack was leaning with his arms crossed, giving her a look that said _see what you're doing to us?_ "Can he hear me?" she asked Zack. He scoffed.

"Well he ain't deaf," he said with a dry laugh. She ignored his remark and turned back to Cloud.

"Cloud, you need to take these vitamins," she said to him, not really convinced he was actually awake. He moved then, raising his head slowly off his forearm. His face was covered in tiny beads of sweat. He was pale and his eyes looked heavy and drained of energy. Marsh tried to hide the guilt she felt from showing on her face as she held the cup of multicolored pills up to him. He took it tentatively in his left hand and emptied it into his mouth as the doctor reached for the cup of water. As he washed the vitamins down she noticed his right arm resting in the roughly made sling around his neck. "What happened?" she asked then, looking first at Cloud then up at Zack.

"Like you don't know," Zack answered harshly.

"I…don't watch _that_," she said awkwardly, shaking her head.

"Hmm…easier to turn a blind eye eh?" Zack fired back at her. She wanted to defend her position but stopped herself quick because he was right. She did turn a blind eye to what went on down there. It was the only way she could do her job.

"I can see now why the Turk was brought to me this morning," she mused, obviously referring to Reno.

"What?" Cloud asked weakly, his voice strained.

"Yeah, we won't be seeing him for a few days," Zack said happily, a wide smile across his face. Marsh shook her head at him. She didn't seem impressed over the beating Zack had dealt him, even if he did deserve it.

"I'll let the professor know you need to visit the med sector for treatment," she said, looking back at Cloud who didn't really seem to be paying attention anymore. His eyes were closed, his brow creased, showing some of the pain he was in.

"Good luck getting him to care, doc. After all, it's not like we're human beings or anything."

"I'm sure he will," Marsh retorted, coming to a stand in front of Zack. "His project depends on his subjects being healthy and in good condition," she said coldly before leaving the bathroom. Zack watched after her as she removed the covered dishes from the tray, placing them on Zack's cot and then leaving with the guards without looking back. Zack sighed and turned his gaze back to Cloud who looked up at him with a questioning glance.

"I think she likes me," he said with a confident grin.

"Yeah right," Cloud responded, cracking a small half smile.

"Come on, they finally decided not to let us starve," he said then, disappearing from Cloud's view.

"Oh good. Now I'll actually have something to throw up…" Cloud sighed.

The 'food', if it could be called that, consisted of some sort of thick soup. It sort of resembled pea soup and had the same sort of yellowish color. The taste, however, wasn't like pea soup. It was bland, and had a flavor kind of like newsprint and raw potatoes.

"This could possibly be the worst shit I've ever tasted," Zack commented as he swallowed down his second or third spoonful.

"No kidding," Cloud agreed, sliding the bowl away from where he sat on the floor next to his cot. He shifted his position a little using his left hand and hissing in a breath of air through his clamped teeth as his wrist protested the movement. "I'd sell my goddamn soul for just one asprin…" he said before closing his eyes for a few moments. He opened them once again to watch Zack as he ate, trying to decide how to ask something that was prodding at him. "So you busted up Reno pretty good then?" he finally spoke. Zack nodded, not looking up and then laughed a little.

"Probably woulda killed the son of a bitch if his bald bodyguard hadn't jumped in," he said casually as he finished with his bowl. "You gonna eat that?" he asked then, pointing with his spoon at the bowl near Cloud's feet.

"You just said it was the worst thing you've ever tasted," Cloud pointed out. Zack shrugged.

"Food's food, bud," he said, then reached forward. "Last chance."

"Be my guest." Cloud waved the food away. "I can't really picture you taking someone down like that," he reverted back to the topic of Reno. Zack threw him a skeptical glance.

"Yeah well…the guy fights dirty. I _hate _dirty fighters."

"It's not exactly your typical fight," Cloud retorted. He wasn't trying to defend Reno by any means. He would have gladly beaten the shit out of him if he could. But still, the principle of it bothered him, since Zack was one of the very people who had implanted the ideas of integrity and pride in battle into him. He could tell Zack had caught on to what he was getting at.

"Okay, I know it wasn't necessarily right to ignore the rules of decent and honest battle. And _maybe _it wasn't necessarily right for me to crush his hand and step on his neck, BUT when it comes to teaching someone a lesson for hurting someone you care about, I like to think the rules can be tweaked a little here and there."

There was a bit of an awkward silence then as they both looked down. Cloud broke the silence. "You stepped on his neck?" he asked, trying to hold back the urge to laugh. Zack couldn't restrain himself though.

"I thought his eyeballs were gonna pop out of their sockets," he chuckled, then pushed his own eye lids open wide with his fingers, imitating the look on Reno's face. Cloud let himself laugh then. They were interrupted by the sound of someone coming in. Two Shinra guards entered. "Hey fellas," Zack greeted them. "Come to bring us the main course?" he added, seeing they had the cart out in the hall. They said nothing as they collected the bowls. The one reached out and pulled the plastic spoon Zack had been chewing on from his mouth. "Oh you must been the Shinra dishwashers," he laughed then.

The guards looked at each other, less than amused. "Yeah, laugh now, buddy," the one spoke up in a gruff voice. "You won't be laughin' when we come to get you later to go to D-Wing." Zack's smile faded which prompted the guards to laugh to one another before heading out of the room. Zack stared at the closed door for a few slow passing seconds before turning his eyes to Cloud. He could see the dread in his friend's eyes. It made him feel utterly hopeless, which was a feeling that Zack could not deal with.

"Screw this," he said, pulling himself to his feet. "There's gotta be something in here to help us get out of this shit hole. He headed into the bathroom where he started looking around for _anything _that could be used as a weapon. There really was nothing in there that could be used. All taps and smaller objects were held firmly in place. There wasn't even a towel bar he could rip from the wall. He collapsed on his cot in frustration, hearing it squeak under his weight. A thought struck him then. The cot. He jumped up again and dropped to his knees on the floor next to it. Cloud was watching him curiously.

The legs of the cot were bolted down to the floor so there was no way of moving it. He reached under the cot and moved his fingers along the various metal springs. Suddenly, he felt his skin catch on something sharp and he withdrew his hand fast. "OW!" he exclaimed, examining the spot on his middle finger where a bead of blood was forming. He smiled then and reached to pull the mattress off the frame only to find it was sewn down with straps. "Ha. Funny," he said sarcastically before pushing himself onto his back on the floor and then sliding under the cot.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Cloud questioned.

"Bear with me, Spikey, I may have got something," he said, his voice muffled.

In the very limited light he searched for the spot where he had cut his finger. Sure enough he came across a place where part of the link spring had come apart. He touched the link that had come apart from the frame. He tested to see how loose it was. Loose enough. It would take for bloody ever but there was a good chance he could detach it from the rest of the links. He started right away, working on bending it so that he could unweave it from the other links.

Cloud watched Zack for the first ten minutes or so but seeing as his friend seemed determined to stay under his cot, cursing under his breath while he did…whatever it was he was doing, he decided to pull himself off the floor and lay down on his own cot for awhile to try to ease the almost unbearable ache in his head.

Several hours passed as Zack worked and Cloud dozed but they couldn't have passed any faster as the sound of the keypad outside the room alerted Zack to abandon what he was doing and push himself out from under his cot. When two guards, accompanied by Rude, entered, Zack was sitting casually on his cot, his back to the wall.

"It's time," the one guard said. Zack sighed, lifting himself up and walking over to Cloud's side to nudge him awake. Zack was almost thankful Cloud had been sleeping because he seemed half-asleep as they were first led out of the room and he didn't have to see the dreaded panic in Cloud's eyes. That came soon enough however as entered the D-Wing. Cloud seemed to snap alert. He resisted somewhat being placed in the chair in the lab. The guard strapping him down grabbed his right arm and pulled it from his homemade sling. Cloud groaned in pain.

"You think it's really necessary to strap that down?" Zack commented. "There's not a heck of a lot he can do with it right now," he scoffed. The guard shot him a look that told him to shut up as he pulled the leather strap over Cloud's heavily bruised and swollen wrist. He gave it a fast pull to tighten it, bringing out a low cry from Cloud. The guard flashed a satisfied grin at Zack and then walked off with the other guard, leaving the lab.

The door opened quickly again, the professor and his assistants entering with Dr. Marsh. It was the same routine as before. Hojo making his annoying objective comments, Zack insulting him and everyone else in the room. Dr. Marsh performing her procedures that were followed up by one of the assistants preparing the injections of green torture. Then there were Zack's loud curses and Cloud's loud cries.

Same as usual, Cloud opened his heavy eyes to realize he didn't know how much time had passed since he had passed out in the lab and been brought back to the cell. This time, however, he glanced down at the floor to see Zack's lower body sticking out from under his cot. Zack had wasted no time in getting back to what he'd started once he could manage to operate his limbs enough to do it. He had stayed conscious that time after the injection so he spent an hour or so after just trying to bear through the pain until his adrenaline took over and started combating the mako. He knew he had a limited time to work before the second wave would hit and he was more determined that he had ever been. He was more aware than ever that his and Cloud's lives depended on it.


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey guys! Hope the week is going good for all of you. I FINALLY finished up the hoard of tests and assignments I had to do for school which means two things: 1. I shall know what sleep feels like again, and 2. I will have my free time back to write. I worked on this chapter for a few days so that it would be a little longer. Hope you all like it. As always, the comments are greatly appreciated :D And without further ado…read on and enjoy! _

_Good ol' disclaimer: FF not mine. _

Chapter VII

"SHIT!" Zack exclaimed as he held his right index finger in his shaking left hand and squeezed hard. That was probably the tenth time he'd been cut by the metal of the link spring under his cot. It had been getting harder to work since the second wave of mako effects hit. For the past hour he had been trying to focus hard on making his hands do what his brain was telling them to, all the while he had to fight against the growing pain in his abdominal muscles that made him want to curl up into a ball on his side. He heard the faint sound of the toilet being flushed and decided he should take a break and see how Cloud was doing. Slowly, he pulled himself out from under the cot and used the side of it to sit himself up.

"How you doin', kid?" he called in hoarse voice in the direction of the washroom. Cloud appeared then in the doorway. Zack gasped. Several thin lines of blood were running down both his inner arms originating at the inner elbows. Zack started to lift himself up but stopped, his stomach dropping as he noticed the same thing happening to his own arms. _How long have I been bleeding?_ he wondered as he took note of the smeared blood in his inner elbows. He wiped some of it away trying to see where it was coming from. His gaze fell onto the small holes left in his skin from the needlework in the lab. "What the hell…" He didn't know what to think.

"Zack…" Cloud's weak voice interrupted his thoughts. "I think something's wrong with us," he spoke, his words barely making it out of his pale lips before his trembling legs refused to keep him standing any longer and he fell to his knees, he slumped against the door frame, his whole body trembling. His arms hung limp at his sides as the blood continued to run down in small streams, starting to form small circles on the tile floor. Zack had to snap himself out of the shock he was in. All that kept running through his mind was _what the hell is happening to us?! _He took off his shirt and started to tear it into strips. The effort made the blood flow faster. It was different somehow. Thinner.

Holding the strips of fabric, Zack moved himself over to where Cloud sat. He took Cloud's left arm and wrapped one of the strips around it, tying it off as tight as he could. He did the same to his left arm, feeling a twinge of guilt as he saw Cloud holding back the urge to cry out from the pain. The poor kid had been suffering though a broken wrist for what seemed like days now. After finishing with Cloud, Zack tied off his own arms using one hand and his teeth. Something was definitely not right. They had lost far too much blood far too quickly. Zack sat quiet for a moment watching his friend. It seemed that every inch of Cloud's skin was glistening in sweat.

"You warm, buddy?" he asked after a moment of observation. Cloud shook his head.

"Re-really cold," he answered slowly, his voice shaking. Zack leaned forward and put his palm against Cloud's forehead. His eyes widened. What he felt he wasn't expecting. He had been expecting Cloud to have a fever. What he felt was the opposite. Cloud's skin was like ice. Zack wondered if that's what his felt like. He always felt cold in that room and it was hard to determine what your own temperature was. He wasn't sweating like Cloud though. "It's kinda hard to breathe…" Cloud almost whispered. Only a second later, Cloud's eyelids fell and his head dropped to his chest. Zack's heart sank hard and he grasped Cloud's head in his hands, lifting it.

"Cloud!" he said his name frantically, shaking his head a little, trying to will him awake. "Come on, Spike, you can't sleep right now!" He tried to keep the panic of his tone as low as possible. Cloud's eyes opened then. Zack let out an exhale of relief and forced a smile to his face. "Hey, it's not naptime yet, kid," he joked. Cloud looked at him gravely.

"Zack…your nose…" he said tiredly. Zack looked back at him in confusion before reaching his fingertips to his nose and feeling something wet. More blood. _That's not mine_, he thought then as he looked on the blood that was smeared on his palm. _Cloud_. He returned his eyes to his friend, holding his jaw and coaxing his head to the side. A small stream of red had emerged from his ear and was making its way down the side of his neck. There was another coming from his other ear.

"Oh god…" Zack couldn't help himself from breathing the words that came up from the bottom of his gut where the fear was starting to take over.

"I don't wanna die here, Zack," Cloud said then, his voice shaking. The tears were building up in his eyes.

"Listen to me, Cloud," Zack said firmly, grasping his shoulders. "You're not dying here. No one is. Not you, not me. We're gonna get out of here, you got it?" Zack looked hard into Cloud's watery blue eyes. Zack could see the doubt there. He couldn't blame him. He had doubts himself. But he had to fight them. Cloud lowered his head as the tears started to fall. Zack pulled him forward and held his friend as he cried softly into his shoulder.

…

Dr. Marsh punched in the code on the key pad outside the heavy door and she took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the hardest thing in the world: facing Hojo's specimens. What she wasn't prepared for was to enter their room and see them both unconscious on the floor bleeding from practically everywhere. Arms, noses, ears, even their eyes. The streams of their blood mixed together on the floor in small puddles. She ordered the guards that accompanied her to retrieve gurneys from the med sector. She took a few steps towards the two young men. It was so quiet. The only sound came from her own breathing. She bent down, checking their pulses tentatively, almost afraid to touch them. Their pulses were weak, but they were there.

It took a few minutes for the guards to arrive back with the gurneys. They hoisted Zack up first, a low groan escaped his throat as he was moved. He could feel himself being moved, but it was like being in a dream. Everything was so hazy and dark. He couldn't be sure if his eyes were even open or not. There was no pain really. Just the cold and the numbness.

Cloud was picked up second and laid out on the other gurney. Dr. Marsh urged them to hurry, getting them to the med sector. Zack could hear her say that but before he felt himself being moved again he had phased out. He had no idea how much time had passed when he felt his one eyelid being opened and saw a bright light shine into it. The light disappeared and was replaced with the face of Dr. Marsh. She was saying something to him but he could barely make it out over the loud ringing in his ears.

"Zack," she spoke loudly, looking down at his heavy lidded eyes. "Blink if you can hear me."

_Blink if you can hear me?_ Zack questioned in his groggy mind. He wasn't one hundred percent sure that's what she had said but decided to go with it and gave a slow but definite blink. She nodded then.

"Don't worry, you're going to be fine," she assured him. She disappeared from his view then. He could just barely make out the sound of something happening to his right. He turned his head slow, it seemed near impossible to do, his neck felt so stiff. He saw a blur of white coats moving frantically, reaching for things that he couldn't identify. Amongst the rapid movement he managed to squint enough to make out some spikey blond hair, matted somewhat from a mixture of sweat and blood. Then came the sentence that gripped his heart and squeezed hard making him beg to god he hadn't heard right.

"He's fibrillating!"

The high-pitched sounds of beeping monitors filled the area.

"Paddles!"

Zack couldn't make out the faces or distinguish the voices of anyone but Dr. Marsh.

"Charging…clear!"

There was a loud THUMP and then the sound of one long bleep coming from a monitor.

"No pulse!"

_Cloud, no! _Zack cried out within his head.

"Again. Charging…clear!"

"Nothing!"

"Again!" Marsh's voice held a hint of the panic Zack was feeling. "Charging…clear!"

That time, the assistants had parted just enough that Zack could make out Cloud's torso rising and falling fast with the electricity of the defibrillator.

"Still nothing!"

Zack felt like screaming. He wanted to jump up and leap off the gurney, push everyone out of the way and shake Cloud awake himself so that he could give him shit for being such a little jerk thinking he was just gonna check out and leave him behind.

"AGAIN!" Marsh insisted. "Charging…CLEAR!"

This time the THUMP was followed up by the bleep on the monitor breaking up into slow repeated bleeps.

"He's back!"

Those words brought more relief to Zack than he could ever have imagined. The frantic aura of the area seemed to die down a little almost instantly. The assistants parted again and Zack could see his friend lying still. Still, but alive.

"Alright, we'll keep monitoring him for now and prep Z1 for surgery," Marsh's voice cut into Zack's brain. _Surgery?_ Before he knew it, he was in motion, the gurney being wheeled away and down a short hallway into another room. When the motion stopped he waited in anticipation for what would happen next. He wanted to see Marsh, wanted to know what the hell was going on and what had happened to he and Cloud. He didn't get the chance as the last person he would see for awhile would be some random assistant with a mask covering her mouth and nose. She unscrewed the tube attached to the oxygen mask covering his own mouth and nose and screwed in a different tube. He could feel the air being forced into his body, but only for a few seconds as the uncontrollable urge to sleep took over and he closed his eyes, letting the darkness take him away.

…

"What is the status on the specimens?" Hojo asked from his seat at the head of the table in the board room where he and his assistants had convened.

"They're stable," Marsh answered tiredly as she took a seat, having just come from the med sector.

"What happened?"

"After analyzing some blood samples, it's evident that the high concentrations of raw mako have radically changed the composition of both specimens' red blood cells, as well as eliminating almost any possibility for the blood to clot."

"Is it reversible?"

"Not reversible…but their bodies are still producing normal red blood cells. It will take time to filter out those affected by the mako. Not only that, but the mako has also caused a great deal of damage to their circulatory systems at the points of entry. Basically, it has been disintegrating the veins and capillaries in the tissues surrounding the direct entry points. We had to perform surgery to repair arterial damage in both specimens.

Hojo thought for a moment, clicking his pen a few times as he stared across the table. "What would happen if they were to receive another injection?"

Marsh looked at him incredulously. She almost couldn't believe he'd actually ask. But then she reminded herself who it was she was talking to. The man was devoid of many things…humanity appearing to be one of those things.

"It is unlikely either of them would survive another injection," she stated firmly.

"Hmmm…" Hojo continued to ponder. "We need to develop a different way of administering the treatment. If the same amount could be transferred in a less concentrated way…" he trailed off, seemed to be in his own little science world. The assistants looked at one another. He spoke up again suddenly, startling some of them. "How long until the specimens are recovered?"

Marsh almost laughed but restrained herself. There was no way to be sure Zack and Cloud would _ever _recover fully. That answer would be unacceptable to Hojo though. She struggled to respond with a length of time she knew herself would be cutting it close. "A month maybe." Hojo scoffed.

"No," he said as he shook his head.

"Professor, you want your test subjects to be as healthy as possible when you perform your procedures don't you? Otherwise the results may be skewed." He studied her hard. "At least three weeks," she suggested, though she almost felt like she was begging. He released a long breath before rising from his chair, bringing everyone else to a rise as well.

"Fine," he said in an irritated tone. "Three weeks. During that time we'll work on developing a different means of administering the mako." With that said, he headed for the door.

…

When Zack opened his eyes he felt like he had been asleep for months yet was still unbelievably tired. First thing he did was reach up to his face and pull the oxygen mask down that was covering his mouth. He took a deep breath and let it out slow. His arm hurt. It was bandaged, starting at the inner elbow and ending mid-way up his bicep. Lifting his left arm, something restrained his wrist making a CLANK noise. He made a painful effort to raise his head and shoulders and saw that his wrist was cuffed to the guard rail on the bed. He laughed drying before letting his head fall back onto the pillow. His noticed something then. Tubes. Several and they seemed to be going into him. One was connected at his wrist and went to a bag of clear liquid. Hanging next to that bag was one unmistakably filled with blood. He followed the tube with his eyes where it disappeared under the sheet and blanket on top of him. Pushing the covers down a little he stared with an open mouth at the where the tube was entering the center of his chest, above his heart.

"Gross," he muttered, his voice coming out hoarse and broken. Sure, he thought _that _was gross until he discovered where the third tube went. It turned out to be a catheter. He laid back, listening to the sound of the monitors. After a moment he was able to pick out two different heart monitors going. One was his. The other…

He looked to his right where a curtain was drawn. Reaching over as far as the cuff on his wrist allowed, he stretched painfully till his fingers caught the curtain. He pulled it open as hard as he could. Luckily it slid pretty easily and he could see his companion. _Poor kid_, he thought as he looked on at his friend. _I hope I don't look like that_. There was bruising all over what part of Cloud's chest he could see and around his eyes. He came to the conclusion it was probably from his momentary departure from life and the effort it had taken to get him back. Zack felt himself get emotional all of a sudden. He was glad Cloud wasn't awake to see him shed some tears 'cause he would have felt like an idiot. He couldn't help thinking, however, how bad it would have been if he had been left alone there. Cloud didn't know how much Zack needed him to be there. But then, Zack hadn't really known either.

He heard the sound of footsteps then. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and waited to see who it was. He was happy to see it was Dr. Marsh. He was hoping for an explanation. A faint smile came across her lips as she entered and noticed Zack was awake. It was gone quick though and her stoic expression returned.

"Good to see you awake," she said as she shut the door behind her.

"I knew you'd miss me," he said with a wide grin. She rolled her eyes.

"Believe me, I prefer you unconscious. I enjoy the quiet. It's just good to see you didn't slip into a coma after the surgery."

"Nah, you like me unconscious can then you can take advantage of me," he said with a wink.

"I suppose I don't need to ask you how you're feeling, you seem to be just fine."

"I've been better," he responded a little more seriously. "Anything you can offer to help dim the pain from whatever the hell you guys did to my arms?"

She nodded slowly then headed to a cabinet that she unlocked with a set of keys and took something out of. She filled a syringe with some clear liquid and administered it to his IV feed. "This should help," she said before discarding the syringe.

"So, what happened?" Zack asked then. She thought through her explanation before delivering it.

"Uh, the concentration of mako you and Cloud have been given in the injections has had a corrosive effect on some of the veins in your arms. We needed to do surgery to repair some of the damage."

"That's why we all of a sudden were bleeding out of every orifice?" he asked, looking at her skeptically.

"No. Apparently that much mako doesn't enhance the cells in the body, rather it starts to break them down. Your blood composition changed and your bodies stopped clotting."

Zack went to cross his arms out of habit when he remembered the hand cuff. "Is this really necessary?" he asked, holding his hand up showing the cuff. The doctor cleared her throat but said nothing as she moved away from Zack's bedside and over to Cloud's where she watched the monitors for a moment. "Is he gonna be okay?" He asked then, somewhat afraid to hear the answer.

Marsh met his eyes. Right then he swore she was going to burst into tears. Her lower lip quivered a little before she forced a tight smile to her face. "Sure," she said, nodding and looking away. "You seem very close with him," she pointed out then. Zack let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah…well…" he struggled with a response.

"He's lucky to have a friend like you," she added in what seemed to Zack to be a sad tone. She turned then and headed for the door.

"Hey, Doc," he called to her and she paused, looking back at him. He felt what he was trying to say lingering on the tip of his tongue but it just wouldn't leave his mouth. On one hand he wanted to thank her for being the only person he and Cloud had come into contact with down in that basement who still treated them somewhat like they were human. On the other hand, she was one of them. The scientists. Worse! They thought what they were doing was right but he could see in her eyes that she knew what was happening to them was wrong and yet she did nothing. In the end, that's what it came down to. He averted his eyes then. "Never mind," he said softly. She stood by the door for a few seconds more before opening it to step out.

"Get some rest," she said before leaving the room and closing the door.

…

It took another day and a half for Cloud to wake up. Zack hadn't even realized at first when he did. He had grown so bored in there that he had started to sing to himself. The song he was singing was actually the cadet chant that was taught to new initiates when they entered the academy. Cloud came out of sleep like he was coming out of a tunnel. He saw the bright lights behind his lids and could hear sounds nearby. He opened his eyes a little, wincing against the sting of the fluorescent lights. _Is someone singing?_ was the first thought to enter his mind. _Oh no. Not that…_he thought then as he recognized the tune. Stiffly, he dragged his hand up to his face to pull his oxygen mask down. He swallowed hard against the feeling of sandpaper lining his mouth and throat.

"Of all the songs in the world…" he barely managed to get his words out just loud enough that Zack heard him, his head turning to him fast."…you pick that one…" Cloud finished.

"Spikey!" Zack exclaimed, pulling himself up on his elbows. "'Bout time you woke the hell up!"

"Ugh…I feel like roadkill," he muttered.

Zack couldn't resist. "Yeah…you kinda look like it too. A chocobo run over by a motorcycle," he said through a smirk. Cloud started to laugh but it finished as a cough.

"Oww…don't make me laugh," he said, a smile still evident on his face. "What happened?" he asked then, turning his head toward Zack.

Zack sighed. "Hojo's experimentations are failing miserably, that's what." There was a few moments of silence then before Cloud spoke again.

"Zack. Did something happen to me?" he asked awkwardly. Zack looked back at him, his brow furrowed. "Never mind," he said then, shaking his head.

"You coded."

"What?" Cloud questioned, looking back at his friend.

"Your heart stopped. They brought you back with the paddles," he replied, pointing to the defibrillator near the wall. "It was pretty cool actually," he added, laughing a little. Cloud studied Zack's expression. He watched as the humor fell from his face and his eyes seemed to darken a little. "And by cool I mean scary as hell," he said then, his voice quiet as he kept his gaze directed down to his lap.

"I'm…I'm sorry," Cloud said softly, not really sure if that's what he should say.

"Yeah…" Zack agreed. "You better be. Do it again and I'll kick your ass," he said seriously before grabbing an empty paper cup off the table next to his bed and throwing it at Cloud. It bounced off his forehead and landed next to him. Cloud sighed, pretending to ignore the cup for a few seconds before grabbing it and throwing it as hard as he could, trying to catch Zack off guard. Unfortunately it only made it to the guardrail on the side of his bed where it bounced off and landed on the floor. "Your grandmother teach you that one?" Zack fired at him.

Cloud tried to hold back his laughs. "Jerk, quit it," he warned him again to stop making him laugh.

"You're just lucky I can't get to you," he said, holding up his hand to show he was cuffed down. "Then I'd really bug the shit outta you," he added, smiling wide.

"You're doing a pretty good job from that distance," Cloud remarked, smirking proudly at his insult.

"Ohhh, you're gonna get it, Spike, just you wait," he threatened. Cloud shook his head, closing his eyes against the bright lights overhead.

…

A week had passed before Zack and Cloud could be released from the med sector and brought back to their room. They were given fresh clothes before being led back to their cell. Both of them were pretty weak but they were both pretty doped up on morphine so they weren't in much pain. Cloud had finally been given a cast for his wrist. It had to be broken again and re-set because it had already begun to heal on its own in an awkward alignment. Luckily he had been knocked out during that whole procedure.

Zack was hoping once they were back in their room that they would be left alone for awhile so that they could just relax. No such luck of course as a few hours later the door was opening and their favorite Turks were stepping over the threshold.

"Wow, you ladies look like shit!" Reno commented promptly.

"Yeah, we're modeling our look after yours," Zack replied, lying on his cot with his hands behind his head and not bothering to sit up when Reno and Rude entered.

"You're funny, Fair," Reno snapped back. "Wanna look like the bottom of my shoe next?"

Zack laughed. "I may be funny, but you're fuckin' hil-arious. What the hell do you want anyway?"

"Well, I just thought maybe you guys would have had enough of staring at the walls and that you might like something to read. Here, I brought something for both of you," he said happily as he took out some folded sheets of newspaper and handed them to both Cloud and Zack. Copies of the front page of the _Daily Midgar_. Zack skimmed over the column, his eyes widening as he got further into it. He sat up slowly and held the paper closer to his face as if getting closer to it would reveal it to be a mistake. _Midgar mourns the loss of First Class SOLDIER Zackary Fair and Private First Class Cloud Strife of the Shinra Militia…_

"Fuck me…" Zack uttered in disbelief.

"They had a funeral for us?" Cloud spoke then, his voice shrouded in confusion. His eyes darted to the picture provided of two caskets and a crowd of people clad in black, two of the people much closer in the foreground. He read the caption. _Parents of Zack Fair say a tearful goodbye to their beloved son. _Zack looked on at the picture as well, feeling his heart ache as he stared at his parents captured in black and white.

"It was a really nice service," Reno said then, his hands in his pockets casually. "A lot of people showed up. For you anyway," he continued, looking at Zack. His eyes shifted to Cloud then. "Didn't look like many showed up for you, baby boy."

"What a shock," Cloud responded sarcastically, glancing over at Zack.

"Aeris was there," Reno muttered, almost to himself as he studied his finger nails on his one hand. Zack's eyes shot over to him. "She didn't stay long though. She seemed upset, so naturally I went to make sure she was alright…"

"Fuck you, Reno, you stay away from her!" Zack said firmly, anger welling up in him fast. He crumpled the paper up into a ball in his fist and rose from his cot, stepping up in front of Reno, outmatching him in height by a few inches though Reno tried to make himself seem taller.

"You gonna stop me, Fair?" he challenged. Zack narrowed his eyes.

"You wanna fight, Turk, let's go," he responded coolly. "Otherwise, get out of sight." With that said he flicked the ball of rolled up newspaper from his hand and it hit Reno's chin before falling to the floor. Reno's eyes gazed down at it then back up to meet Zack's hard glare. The tension was so intense it seemed explosive. Cloud was watching and waiting, expecting Reno to throw a punch at Zack. Surprisingly, he backed off, taking a few steps backward before turning toward the door. He paused though before leaving.

"I'll be sure to pick you up one of those flowers of hers next time I see her," he said with an evil smirk before stepping out and slamming the door shut. In the same second, Zack had leaned down, retrieving the paper ball so he could haul off and whip it at the door as it shut. It hit with surprising force considering it was paper. Zack turned from the door then, running his hands through his hair before dropping himself back down onto his cot, his hands resting on his chest. There was silence then for a few moments before Cloud looked up from the paper he had just read over for about the 5th or 6th time. He just couldn't believe it.

"I'm really sorry, Zack," he said tentatively.

"For what?" Zack questioned, trying to get the image of Aeris at his funeral out of his head.

"I'm sorry you had to see the paper. All those people there for you…your parents…" His words weren't coming out the way he was hoping.

"Yeah. Well. Think of how stupid they'll all feel when they see us come strolling into town."

Cloud got that he was trying to lighten the mood. Sometimes he hated Zack for that. For always making jokes no matter how serious a situation But then he would remind himself that if Zack didn't do that then he would probably fall apart and that was a thought too troubling for Cloud to bear.


	8. Chapter 8

_Hey guys! I hope you are all well! I got such awesome feedback on the last chapter. You guys are amazing, seriously. Makes me a little nervous about dropping this one out but eh, that's the nature of the craft right? I'm actually kinda ill right now so I've decided to take advantage of being confined to a bed and when I'm not doped up and sleeping I have been writing haha! So there's a good possibility I'll be submitting the next chapter in a day or so. I'm pretty excited to write the next chapter. It's gonna be good…;) haha! _

_So that's all from me, thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing and faving this story! It makes my day! Now, read on and enjoy! :D_

_Da Disclaima – Final Fantasy is not mine to own but a tool to spark my creativity! _

Chapter VIII

"I don't get it," Zack said as he exhaled, bringing himself up to his knees and then dropping back to his back.

"Huh?" Cloud inquired, following the same motion as he and Zack were side by side on the floor doing sit-ups. Zack insisted they try to get themselves back into moderate shape. Being cooped up in a small room for weeks at a time was wearing down on them quickly.

"How come no one came for you?" Zack asked, rising and falling back again.

"Uh, what are you talking about?" Cloud replied before sucking in another breath and lowering himself to the floor.

"At our funeral." Zack laughed. The idea that they had been "buried" still seemed crazy. "I mean, I know you don't have much family…but come on!"

"Correction. I have _no_ family. At least not that I know of. I already told you I wasn't exactly popular in my hometown."

"Yeah, sure. You never really said why though."

Cloud stopped his sit-ups then, lying on his back with his hands on his stomach as he took deep breaths. "Does it really matter?" he asked, not really wanting to drag his childhood back up from its tomb.

"Maybe," Zack answered simply, finishing up one last sit-up before stopping and sliding himself back to lean against his cot. He looked down at Cloud expectantly. Cloud sighed, giving in and trying to decide where he should start.

"Uh, well. When I look back now, I'm pretty sure the town never wanted my mom and I there to begin with," he began awkwardly, his forehead creasing a little as he let the floodgates open in his mind and the memories came rushing in.

"How come?"

Cloud shrugged. "You know what small towns are like. Girl shows up out of nowhere with a young kid, no husband, and no money, begging for food and shelter…they aren't gonna get the warmest welcome in the world."

"What happened to your dad?"

"I dunno. Mom wouldn't say."

Zack scoffed. "Didn't you ever ask her about him?" Cloud glanced up at him.

"Yeah. And the one time I did she burst into tears and shut herself up in her bedroom for two days. Would you push it?"

"No so much…" Zack said quietly.

"Anyway, the mayor agreed to let us stay in a small, one bedroom house for a few weeks rent-free because we had come with nothing but told her she would have to start making payments when the new month rolled around. She needed to find a job but of course you aren't going to find many positions that allow you to bring your 2-year-old in with you. A neighbor agreed to take care of me while she was at work but wanted to be reimbursed for the time she did so without being paid. Not that she did a heck of a lot to earn the money. Her idea of watching a kid was to lock them up in a room with a few toys for the day."

"Seriously?" Zack asked in disbelief. "You remember that?"

"A little." Cloud nodded. "I remember sitting alone for hours at a time, waiting to see the door open again."

"And your mom kept bringing you there?"

"She didn't know. But I was only brought there for a little under a year. Mom figured there was something going on when I would cry as she brought me there. She tried to bring me to work with her after that and had me hide in a storage closet. That didn't last very long either. Eventually, she just started leaving me at home alone and would run home to check on me whenever she got a break. It was a pretty big relief for her when I was old enough to go to school. She tried to convince me it'd be fun. I remember that." He paused, laughing dryly. "Pretty much sucked as much as I thought it would. The other kids didn't like me so much…"

"Why's that?"

"I guess I just didn't talk very much."

"You still don't talk much and that didn't keep me away," Zack said with a bright smile. Cloud looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, and you're also nuts," Cloud pointed out.

"Psh." Zack shook his head and raised his elbows up to rest them on the cot at his back.

"Well there was one person who talked to me."

"Let me guess. Tifa Lockheart?"

Cloud's cheeks seemed to blush a little. He recalled their first conversation in his head.

_"You have really funny hair," the young Tifa said from behind him where he sat outside in the grass at lunchtime. He looked back at her, shocked that someone was actually talking to him. He glanced up at one of his blond disheveled spikes hanging down above his eyes. _

_"Oh…" he mumbled, not really knowing what to say. "Okay." The long dark-haired girl giggled. _

_"You're weird," she added then. Cloud looked down at the grass in front of him. _

_"Sorry," he uttered quietly. _

_"What's your name?" she asked, her face lit up in a curious smile. _

_"Cloud," he answered, having it come out almost as a question. She laughed and he frowned a little, not knowing if she was making fun of him or not. _

_"My name's Tifa. Here, this is for you," she replied, reaching down to him, a small flower held by the stem lightly between her thumb and forefinger. He reached up and took it tentatively, looking down at it like it was some strange alien matter he'd never seen before. _

_"What for?" he asked then, completely in wonder. _

_"You seem sad. I thought it might cheer you up," she said before giggling again and then turning away to go rejoin the other kids. "Bye, Cloud," she called back to him, waving. He gave a small wave back. _

"Yeah, she's pretty much the only person I ever had a real conversation with," Cloud responded to Zack, the memory still lingering a little.

"So, no one else ever said a thing to you?" Zack inquired, looking at him skeptically.

"Oh no, they talked…"

_Hey you. Who the hell are you? Hey jerk. Why are you even here? Go back to where you came from. You think you're so much better than the rest of us. Stupid kid. Get out of here before I kick your ass out! Idiot. Useless. Hey asshole! Your gonna get it this time, Strife. Show your face here again and we'll beat your ass! Bastard kid. You can't do anything right…_

The string of insults went on and on in Cloud's head. "None of what they said really got to me, until…"

"Until what?" Zack asked, feeling the suspense just get heavier all of a sudden. Cloud sat up then, sitting opposite Zack, leaning his back against his own cot.

"Well, when we were about 12, a group of kids was going up to the cliffs to go see the waterfalls or something. Tifa had invited me but I told her I was busy. I followed after them though…"

_Cloud wandered up the steep path, his hands in his pockets as he stared at the ground. He wished he could just be like all the others and join in and not wander around after them like some creepy stalker. Still, time and time again, when he would try to be 'normal' he found himself getting pushed away by other people. As he neared the top of the path he could hear voices. He recognized one of them to be Tifa's. _

_"Dennis! STOP!" she cried out, panic in her voice. Cloud took his hands out of his pockets and began to run in the direction of the voices, imagining Tifa was in trouble. As he reached the top and rounded a turn he could see as the trees parted that Tifa and one of the neighborhood boys, Dennis, were standing in the middle of the old wooden suspended bridge. It was supposed to be off-limits because it was thought to be dangerous. Dennis was holding onto the guard ropes on either side and shaking the bridge to scare Tifa who was standing in front of him, gripping the ropes for dear life. Dennis thought it was hilarious. Cloud walked out into the open as Dennis took off across the remainder of the bridge. Tifa heard Cloud's approaching steps and turned back, looking somewhat startled. "Cloud!" she said his name happily, as a smile came cross her face. He smiled back at her and waved. _

_Just then, there was an awkward sound. It was like a creaking door. Tifa stopped and looked down, confused. The creaking continued and evolved into almost a moaning sound. Cloud halted in his tracks as he looked to one of the supports imbedded in the ground. It was leaning in toward the edge of the cliffs, the rope pulling on it, putting too much strain on it and the earth around it giving way. "Tifa! Get off the bridge!" Cloud found himself shouting at her. She seemed frozen at first then snapped into action and stumbled to run across the weak planks to get back to safety. Cloud bolted toward the bridge. The support gave way just as he reached out to grab Tifa's outstretched hand. A scream left Tifa's mouth as the bridge fell beneath her. Cloud cried out too as he fell to his stomach and the weight of Tifa's body sent a jolt of pain up to his right shoulder. He looked down at Tifa, gripping onto his right hand, terror written in her expression. _

_"CLOUD! Don't let me go!" she pleaded, gripping his hand with hers while she held onto his wrist with her other one. _

_"I'm not gonna let you go!" he replied, trying to get his words out. His chest was pressing hard against the rocky edge of the cliff making it hard for him to breathe, let alone speak. He gripped the edge with his free hand, digging his palm into the rock, and tried to push himself back from the edge to pull Tifa up. He strained hard, the rock dug into his flesh, cutting into the skin of his palm. He prayed for extra strength. He could feel Tifa's grip slipping in his hand. She dug her fingernails in his wrist trying to hold on. _

_"CLOUD!" she cried out to him, panic shrouding her voice as she gazed down at the long plunge to the lake below. _

_"It's okay, Tifa, I'm not letting go!" he tried to assure her. Sweat had broke out all over his body and he was trembling. His arm and shoulder ached horribly, screaming out to be released from the strain. Just then, Tifa lost her hold on his hand. Another scream escaped her lips but stopped abruptly as Cloud grabbed hold of her hand in his free one. He was holding onto her with both hands now. _

_He was starting to panic then. He had just realized there was no way he was going to be able to pull her up. He could feel his body sliding by the centimeter over the edge. He tried to make himself heavier, tried to press himself into the ground. It only made the whole process more painful as the rock dug into his chest and knees, tearing at his clothing and skin. When his chest was completely over the edge he knew they were going down. Tifa knew too. She looked into his eyes, fearful tears streaming down her cheeks. _

_"Cloud…" she said his name one last time. He sensed what she was about to say next and didn't let her get the chance. _

_"I'm not letting go!" he shouted firmly. With that, he felt the rest of his upper body slide over the edge, the rest of his body following fast. He could hear Tifa's scream as he held onto her hand tightly. He had his eyes shut tight. He wasn't sure how it happened but he felt his shoulder strike something hard, probably a small outcrop in the cliff. His nerve endings erupted in fiery pain and that's when Tifa's hand disappeared from his. _

_What seemed to take forever probably only lasted a few seconds before Cloud hit water. He could have easily mistaken it for ground had it not been wet. Hitting it certainly felt like hitting concrete. The landing disoriented him and he had to remind himself not to breath in the water. He opened his eyes and saw bubbles all around him. He tried to focus on the direction they were moving in before he began to follow them upward, kicking as hard as he could. He broke the surface and coughed on the water that had made it down his windpipe. He looked frantically around for Tifa, calling her name. He spotted the back of her head a few yards away and moved himself toward her quick, praying that she was okay. _

_When he finally reached her he turned her over and shook her, trying to wake her. She was out cold. She must have hit some of the rocks at the bottom of the shallow lake because she had a thick cut near her hairline on the left side of her forehead. He pulled her towards the shore, barely able to keep his head above the water. After he had managed to pull her out of the water, he collapsed, next to her, exhausted. He could hear voices heading their way. It was the other kids. _

_"TIFA!" they called out to her worriedly as they ran up. Cloud lay on his stomach, panting hard, his eyes shut. _

_"What the hell did you do to her, Strife?" one of the boys yelled at him. He couldn't respond. He was too weak and tired. _

_"Forget him!" another said. "We gotta get Tifa to the doctor!" _

_The group departed then, taking Tifa with them and leaving Cloud behind. For a long time he just lay in the grass next to the water, shivering, trying to get his body to move. He needed some medical attention. He was bleeding from more than one cut. But for nearly an hour he could just not will himself to move. It wasn't until the sun was dipping low behind the trees that he dragged himself up and dirty, damp, and bloody, he trudged back into town. When he stepped through the front door of his house his mother stood up from the kitchen table fast, her chair nearly falling over. She had been crying. _

_"Cloud? Honey?" she spoke with a quiver in her voice. She hurried to the door where he stood, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him tightly. He had to hold himself back from collapsing in her arms and sobbing. She helped him to the table where she sat him down and went for her first aid kit._

_It would be less than a week before she'd be giving that kit another good work out. Near the end of the week, on his way home from school, he found himself cornered by some of the boys from school who had been itching to 'teach him a lesson' of sorts for what happened to Tifa. One of the boys was Dennis, the one probably responsible for the whole thing to begin with. Cloud probably would have laughed at the irony if he wasn't getting his ribs kicked in at the time. Several of the townspeople had seen the boys gang up on Cloud. A few just went on their way while a few others stood by and watched. No one stopped it. _

_Cloud had dreaded going home after that even more than he dreaded having to continue to face the onslaught of nasty remarks and physical assault every day that passed. He didn't want to see the look on his mother's face when he came limping through the door, grasping the cracked ribs at his side, his face swollen and bruised and his shirt spotted with blood from a split lip. He didn't want to face her questions. He knew it was difficult enough for her to listen to the things that were said about him throughout the town. _

_He could still see her in front of his eyes the day after the accident at the cliffs, her hands clasped together tightly in her lap as she sat across from him at the table and explained to him that Tifa was in a coma and that it had been brought on by a head injury. She looked at him with hard eyes. He had told her the night before when she asked what happened to him that he had slipped down into the ravine near the cliffs, not far from the lake where the actual incident occurred. Her gaze now told him she knew he had lied. _

_"I know you were there, Cloud," she said softly, her eyes trying to connect with his but he kept his averted to the table top. "Do you know what people are saying? That you goaded Tifa into going out on that old bridge. Is that what really happened?" _

_Cloud didn't know what to say. He had only been half-listening after his mother had said Tifa was in a coma. He could see her face in his mind, the terror etched into her soft features. He had tried so hard to keep her from falling. But he was just not strong enough…The tears began to run down his cheeks then and he broke down, putting his hands to his face. His mother rose and came over to him, wrapping her arms around him and he started to sob. _

_"I tried to save her from falling, I tried!" he cried. "I couldn't—I, I'm sorry…" he continued. His mother shushed him, stroking his hair and rocking gently, trying to calm him…_

_That's all Cloud could think about as he sat on a boulder just outside of the town, near the side of a dirt road. He had tried to explain what had happened but the words wouldn't form in his mouth. All he could feel was the pain of trying to hold onto Tifa at the cliff's edge and the even worse pain of knowing he wasn't strong enough to pull her up and to safety. Really, the details of the story seemed irrelevant. It was his fault she fell, because he was too weak to save her…He couldn't sit there in front of his mother, the worry painted all over her, and worse, the sympathy. He didn't want to be felt sorry for. He deserved his punishments. _

_Eventually, he gave in to the cold and hunger of sitting outside as the sun started to set and it was well into the evening. He had hoped he could get in the house and out of sight before his mother saw him. There was no such luck. She was waiting right where he knew she would be, at the kitchen table with her hands clasped tightly in her lap. _

"So that's it?" Zack asked in an annoyed tone that somewhat surprised Cloud. "So you just let everyone think you were responsible for the whole thing at the cliffs?"

Cloud shrugged. "They wouldn't have cared even if I told them what really happened. And besides, it kinda was my fault she ended up hurt anyway."

Zack looked at him hard, his expression seemed to suggest he was experiencing both deep confusion and a sudden anger. "Okay, so let's go over this again. Asshole brings Tifa to old bridge and acts like a dick, causing the bridge to take a dive. You happen to be there, so that makes it _your_ fault?" he questioned, his voice raised and sharp.

Cloud kept his eyes on the floor. "I wasn't able to—"

"Cloud, shut the hell up!" Zack cut him off. "So you couldn't pull her friggin' ass up on the cliff. Maybe if she hadn't been an idiot and gone out on the bridge to begin with she wouldn't have got you both into that mess." Cloud's eyes snapped up at him. "That's right. If you ask me, sounds more like if there's someone to blame she can blame herself. People do stupid things. And you know what I see. I see a chick who was lucky enough that you were there to save her life. 'Cause that's what you did, Spike, when you pulled her from that damn lake instead of letting her drink it up and drown!"

Cloud, turned his eyes back to the tile, his brow creased painfully as he tried to listen to Zack. When he said nothing Zack let out a long exhale and then continued in a lower voice. "Well…obviously she made it out of her coma. What was the first thing she said to you? 'Cloud, you're such an asshole, I'm never speaking to you again'?"

Cloud cracked a bit of a sarcastic laugh. "She thanked me."

"Well there ya go!" Zack said, throwing his hands in the air. He saw that Cloud still looked somewhat sullen though. "Look, buddy, I'm really sorry you had to deal with all that shit growing up. I had no idea that it was that bad. I mean, I knew when you said you were from Nibelheim that you were coming from some pretty weird-ass territory but—" Cloud laughed then. Zack followed "But…you gotta take the good out of it and hold onto it," he said, his tone becoming serious.

"Yeah, I know," Cloud admitted, nodding. "Kinda hard to do when the good is floating around in lifestream…"

"You don't know she's dead, kid. Just you watch. I'll bet she'll be excited when she sees you next," Zack assured him in his ever-optimistic tone.

"Yeah, whenever that is…"

"Sooner than you think, Spikey," he responded with a wink before lowering himself onto his back and sliding under his cot. Cloud raised an eyebrow.

"You ever gonna let me in on what the hell you are doing under there for hours at a time?"

"You'll see…" Zack's muffled reply came before he began muttering to himself. Cloud sighed, resting his head against the mattress on the cot behind him and stared up at the fluorescent light that was forever illuminating the room. He wondered how much longer it would be that the ceiling tile would remain his sky.

Cloud had drifted off for a nap on his cot and hadn't been out for very long when an elated cry woke him abruptly. He sat up and looked down at the floor where Zack was shuffling himself out from under his cot. He looked at Cloud excitedly, a broad smile across his face as he held up a long link he had unwoven from the mass of linkspring and had somehow managed to break away from the frame. Zack was met with a puzzled gaze from his friend.

"DUDE! This is great!" he said as he struggled to get to his feet.

"Uh, what's so great?" Cloud asked, failing to see how essentially a thick wire was so wonderful. Zack threw his head back and laughed dramatically before throwing himself onto Cloud's cot, cozying up next to his entirely confused companion.

"This, Spikey, is our key to freedom!" he exclaimed, looking at it as if it was the most beautiful thing on the planet. He started to bend the one end. Cloud watched in wonder. As he worked, Zack started to tell a little of his childhood and how much of a jokester he used to be. He used to pull pranks on just about anyone he could. No surprise there. Eventually, Cloud figured out that Zack had no intention of moving to his own cot so he gave up the wait laid himself down next to him, ready to cash in for the night.

"Well, have fun with whatever it is you're doing," he said to Zack through a long yawn. Zack nodded, concentrating hard.

It took him most of the night. By the end of it his finger tips were more sore than they'd ever been in his life. More than one of his fingernails had been bent back in the process and caused to bleed but when Zack held up the finished product, he forgot all about the minor injuries and smiled. What he held in his thumb and forefinger was a tightly wound spiral about the size and shape of a poker chip and it was going to get him and Cloud out of their prison and back out in the world.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey y'all! Gah! I lied! I said I'd have this out by Monday and it's now into Tuesday. I lost some time while I was doped up on sick meds lol. However, I am feeling much much better :D _

_Thank you all for you well wishes, reviews, and of course for reading. Ya know I appreciate it! You guys are the greatest! Now, read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: I here disclaim ownership of final fantasy…and such final fantasy things…_

Chapter IX

Cloud was jolted awake by the feeling of the cot moving and someone climbing over him. He opened his eyes a little and groaned as Zack was just coming to a stand. "'Bout time you went back to your own bed instead of taking up half of mine," he mumbled, still half asleep.

"No time for sleep now, Spikey," Zack said, turning to Cloud. "Today, we go home," he added with a smile.

"What home?" Cloud questioned. Zack sighed. It was true. They didn't really have any home anymore. They couldn't go back to where they had been. Their life with anything Shrina-related was over.

"Well not home, I suppose, but our future home. We'll find somewhere to stay anyway," he said optimistically.

"Oh yeah?" Cloud asked through a long yawn, stretching his arms above his head. "And how are we gonna do that?"

"With this!" Zack said, holding the coil he had made in his fingers and displaying it proudly. He tossed it into Cloud's lap. Cloud picked it up to look at it.

"_This _is what you've been working on all this time?" He looked at it like it meant absolutely nothing. Zack rolled his eyes, snatching it back from Cloud. "How is that going to get us out of here?" he questioned.

"Well, really, what we've been lacking are two things: Opportunity, and weapons. Right now is probably the best opportunity we have to get out because we are the strongest we've been since we got here due to the fact that Hojo hasn't had his assistants sticking us with crap. And now, we are going to have something to wield as well."

"So…you're gonna throw that at one of the guards?" Cloud asked sarcastically. "Zack, just tell me what we're doing."

"I'll show you," he said with a mischievous smirk. He stepped next to his cot, bending down he directed his eyes to one of the bolts in the frame of the cot. He held up the coil and inspected it. Yes, it was going to work. Carefully, he set the edge of the coil in the notch on the head of the bolt. It was near perfect fit. He had gotten the idea when he thought about a time he had used a quarter to unscrew the back panel of a computer in one of the offices in order to inspect it. He gripped the coil and applied pressure, turning counter-clockwise. The bolt whined a little as metal met metal while it was twisted around. The bolt was about 5 or 6 inches long. _Hmm…that could be used too_ he thought. He set the bolt down and moved down the cot to the end where he unscrewed a second bolt. There were three more to remove from the underside but when they were all out Zack was able to slide the long piece of metal frame from the other pieces, leaving him with a flat piece of metal that somewhat resembled the training swords they had used at the academy. Unfortunately there was no hilt to grip comfortably and allow better maneuvering but they would take what they could get. Zack held the piece of frame out to Cloud, who took it in semi-awe.

"I'm brilliant, aren't I?" Zack said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and displayed his wide proud smile. "It'll deflect bullets pretty well too I would imagine." Cloud looked up at him, a smile creeping across his face.

"We can do this," he said then, the hint of sudden realization in his tone.

"Damn straight. We may be able to use these too," Zack added, picking the bolts up off the floor. "If necessary…Come on, we have to get organized quick, they'll be coming in with food soon." Cloud got off his cot while Zack started to remove the bolts from it.

000

A little under an hour later, Zack heard the cart being rolled up outside the room. "Show time, kid!" he called to the bathroom. _I'm coming for ya, Aeris_, he thought. The key pad was activated outside and the door clicked open. "Thank god! Why don't you guys take your damn time!" Zack said, his tone frantic and sarcastic at the same time. The guards gave him hard looks. "Look, my buddy, he's in the bathroom, been in there all morning pukin' his guts out and man, I don't know about you guys but I just can't be around that shit! It's contagious or somthin' cause when I see puke then I start pukin' but ya know, I'm real worried about him, cause he hasn't been answering me when I call his name so I really think one of you should go in and just have a look, make sure he's still alive, please," he paced nervously as he talked. The guards looked at one another then the one sighed and motioned his head to the other one to go check. Zack watched as he made his way into the bathroom. Meanwhile, the guard left behind turned to the cart picking up a familiar cup of pills and handing it to Zack. He dumped them into his mouth and waited, feeling blood rush to his hands. The guard turned his back on Zack to reach for the cup of water. When he turned back, Zack's fist hit him square in the neck. A gasp escaped the guard but that was all as his vocal cords were temporarily out of service. Zack spit the pills out onto the floor before finishing the guard off. It only took two more hits before he was knocked out cold on the floor.

Cloud lay on the bathroom floor, seemingly unconscious. The guard was hovering over him, checking him to see if he had a pulse. As the guard held his fingers to Cloud's neck, Cloud opened his eyes, startling the guard a little. He grinned at the guard then as he could see Zack's shadow behind him. "What the…" the guard started to speak but was quickly silenced by the taser pressed against the base of the back of his neck. He stood rigid as the volts went through his body then fell to the floor with a thud, his forehead hitting the tile hard.

"Ouch." Zack said, looking down at him. "That's gonna leave a mark." He smiled wide at Cloud reaching a hand down to help him up.

They dragged the other guard into the bathroom, stripped them down and cuffed them with their own cuffs. They took the guards' communicator ear pieces as well, inserting them into their own ears. They hurried to pull the uniforms on over their clothes. "Too bad they don't send armed guards in," Cloud commented, thinking it would be useful to have a gun. Sadly, he had grown accustomed to having one in the militia. Zack scoffed. He would never be a gun man. Once they were dressed they went back out to their cots where they both threw back the covers on their mattresses to reveal the pieces of bed frame they had acquired as their defense. They each shoved a small handful of bolts in their pockets and picked up the long pieces of frame, before turning to the door.

"This is it," Zack said, taking a breath before moving forward into the hall. Cloud followed. Before they had even taken two steps, Zack halted. "Just a second!" he said, before running back into the room.

"Zack!" Cloud called after him in confusion. He looked in the room to see Zack uncovering one of the dishes on the tray. He made a face then turned back. "Some kinda chowder, uck," he said, pushing Cloud back into the hall and shutting the door behind him.

"You seriously just went back to check what was going to be for lunch?" Cloud questioned in disbelief. Zack looked at him.

"Well. I was curious. I'm hungry, gimme a break," he said as he sifted through one of the pockets in the guard uniform. He pulled out a small set of laminated cards and looked through them. "Huh…"

"What?"

"Each one gives a layout of one of the floors in the building," he said in amazement, showing them to Cloud. "That's lucky."

"A little too lucky," Cloud remarked.

Zack found the floor he believed he and Cloud were on. _Fourth Level Basement_. Leave it to Shinra Mansion to have four levels of basement. "We have to stay as far away from high traffic areas as possible." Cloud had found a set of the same cards in one of his uniform pockets.

"How will we know which areas are high traffic?" he questioned, looking at the many turns and stairways and elevators shown on the layout.

"Well I imagine we should stay away from elevators, and from any of the A Wings. They look pretty frequented." He took note of how A Wings were typically board rooms or offices. "Look, there," he pointed to a spot on the layout. "It's mainly maintenance. That means separate stairs and few people to run into. We'll take that way. When we get to the ground floor we'll have to swing round to where the back courtyard is. We'll get out that way." Cloud looked at him like he was crazy. "What?" Zack questioned.

"Uh, did you see what we would have to go through to get to the courtyard?" he asked then pointed to the place on the card.

"Oh…" Zack said, realizing what Cloud was pointing at. "Turk HQ."

"The Turk Headquarters? You want us to just stroll on through the Turk Headquarters?" he asked.

"Well it's the only way we will get outside. If we try to go out the front we'll be stopped. Besides, this could be good."

"How in the hell could it be good!" Cloud exclaimed then looked back and forth down the hall, realizing he had spoken pretty loud. When the hall stayed silent, Zack replied.

"Because there will be no guards up there. The Turks probably won't even notice," he said with a shrug as he shoved the layout cards back in the right chest pocket of the uniform.

Cloud sighed. There was no choice then. If the courtyard was the way to go then they would have to deal. They began their hurried trek through the winding halls, being careful to avoid the med sector. By the time they reached the maintenance area they hadn't run into one person and things seemed to be going all too well. They pushed their way through a set of double swing doors marked "MT Employees Only" and the atmosphere was instantly different. It had the smell of an auto shop. It was the smell of oil and rust in the air. They made their way to the back of the area where there was supposed to be a stairwell. As they neared the back corner they could see there was indeed a door leading to a set of stairs. They took the steps quick. Zack laughed then. "Wow…I might actually be upset if I don't get to use this," he said jokingly as he held up the piece of frame.

When they reached the ground floor, Zack reached for the door handle, pulling the door open and almost walking straight into a man dressed in navy blue coveralls, grease covering it in various spots. He stared at Zack and Cloud for a moment in surprise then his face grew stern. "What the hell are you two doing back here?" he asked, irritation clearly present in his voice.

"Uhh…" Zack struggled to come up with a lie fast.

"You know this area's restricted!" the man added.

"Yes…sir, we do. But, our supervisor asked us to see if there was any scrap metal around and there was no one around to help us out so…"

"Why in the heck would your supervisor need scrap metal?" the man questioned suspiciously.

"Um, well, we don't question the boss, sir, we just do what he says," Zack said with a laugh. "In fact, he's gonna be royally pissed if we don't get back soon, so sorry about, ya know, coming on your turf without permission, we'll get out of your way now."

Zack pushed passed the man with Cloud following, and they headed for the maintenance exit to the left. "Hey!" the man called out to them, stopping them in their tracks.

"What do you think you're going?" he asked, annoyance written all over him.

"Uh…" Zack started to motion to the doors.

"Did you forget your protocol all of a sudden? That way," he said, pointing to a single door straight across the room from the stairwell. "You gotta card out if you're takin' something."

Cloud and Zack looked at each other then back at the man. "Yes, sir," Zack said with a friendly smile before heading for the single door. The man watched them until they were heading out the door.

"Stupid newbies…" he muttered then as he went about his way. Zack and Cloud froze in the hall as they realized that their plan had now changed. They were standing a few meters from a window that had been cut into the wall. A young woman sat behind at a desk, typing on a keyboard in front of a computer screen. Zack fixed one of his charming smiles on his face as he started forward.

"Zack…" Cloud said his name uneasily, grabbing his arm.

"We're good," Zack assured him. "It'll be fine, just follow my lead," he said with a wink then approached the window. He leaned into it casually and cleared his throat. The young woman glanced up and appeared startled as she set eyes on Zack.

"Hi there," Zack greeted her, flashing his near perfect set of teeth. "How ya doin'?"

The young woman blushed a little and shuffled nervously, clearing her throat before speaking.

"Uh, what can I do for you," she said in a voice she was trying to keep steady and cool.

"Oh…probably many things," he flirted. She giggled in response. Cloud stood by, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "But I think today, it's gonna be just this," he said, holding up the piece of bed frame. "The grumpy dude in there said something about signing it out. Didn't know scrap junk was so important."

She laughed again, fixing her blouse a little. "Yeah, Jack's always like that," she said. "Just, can I get one of you to swipe your card through the machine at the wall there?" she asked. Zack and Cloud turned to see a little swipe box attached to the wall next to the window.

"Buddy, you wanna be a pal?" Zack asked Cloud. Cloud glared at him as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the card that showed a picture of a man that looked absolutely nothing like him. He gave him a look that said "She's going to know" but Zack kept his confident expression. Cloud swiped the card nervously, holding his thumb over the picture.

"I haven't seen you guys before," the young woman said then.

"Oh yeah, no, we're new," Zack responded. She nodded, not looking at the screen in front of her that was displaying the card Cloud had just swiped through.

"That's funny, 'cause your uniforms don't look new," she pointed out. She clicked a few keys on the keyboard, still not looking at the screen. Cloud could feel the sweat beading up on his face. Zack almost seemed at a loss for words. But cool as a cucumber Fair could come up with an answer for everything.

"Yeah, hand-me-downs, lame eh? It's a hard life for two poor guys who grew up in an orphanage and were just lucky enough to make it into a respectable Shinra position."

"Oh my God, you're orphans? That's so sad," she said in exaggerated sympathy. "It must be so hard!"

"Yeah," Zack nodded. "It gets really tough sometimes." He faked a bit of a sniffle.

"Hey _buddy_, don't you think we should be getting this scrap to the supervisor?" Cloud broke into their conversation then.

"Oh yeah, guess we better be going," Zack agreed, straightening himself.

"Oh, well it was nice to meet you…uh…" The girl was looking at Zack, who realized he didn't have a name to give her. Cloud sighed, pushing Zack forward.

"Just call him Don Juan," he said with a mock smile as he started them off down the hall. They walked quickly. Cloud shook his head. "You're unbelievable," he said then.

"What?" Zack asked innocently.

"Nothing," he said. "So now which way?"

They were interrupted then as a voice spoke into their ear pieces. "All units be advised, there has been a security breach on Level B-4. Two detainees may be posing as Uniforms. This is a Black Alert. Code 7 Apprehension should be used. Standby." Cloud and Zack looked at one another.

"Maybe they're talking about two other detainees," Zack said with a dry laugh and started walking again.

"Shit," Cloud muttered as he fished out the layout cards. He looked down at them as he walked fast along next to Zack. They passed through a set of swing doors and above them it showed they were leaving D-Wing. They passed by a stairwell and turned the corner down another hall. "Okay, I think I got it. We'll go through the gallery. It stretches out almost to the Turk HQ." He held the card out for Zack to see.

"HEY!" a voice shouted from the end of the hall. They both looked up to see a guard standing there, speaking into his communicator. "Detainees sighted headed out of D-Wing on ground level." Cloud and Zack could hear him in their ear pieces.

"Uh, okay, let's not go to the gallery," Cloud said before they both turned and bolted back the way they came, running for the stairwell they had passed on the way.

"Horrible suggestion, Spike," Zack teased as they ascended quickly to the second floor. "Psh, the gallery? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking maybe we could catch a break for once," he replied as they entered the second floor and darted down the hall.

"Us?" Zack said with a smirk.

"I know, stupid me. Now where?"

Just then, another two guards appeared at the end of that hall. "There they are!" One shouted.

"This looks good," Zack said, turning to the first door on his left. He gripped the handle and pushed down but the door was locked.

"Key card," Cloud said, pointing at the swiper next to the door. Cloud had the card out. He swiped through fast. _Denied_. "What?" He tried again. _Denied. _

"Aw, fuck it!" Zack said, taking off and charging at the guards. They were caught of guard by his move, halting suddenly and raising their guns. They never got a chance to fire as Zack jumped and kicked off the wall, flipping and landing behind the guards, taking them down with the piece of bed frame. "Come on!" he yelled to Cloud as he continued down the hall. "Okay, so key cards suck ass!" he proclaimed as they ran.

As they approached the end of the hall they could hear the sound of several pairs of guard boots heading toward them. "Detainees suspected on level two headed toward B-Wing" spoke the communicators.

"That ain't good," Zack remarked.

"In here," Cloud said, pushing through a door into what seemed to be a large kitchen. The guards weren't far behind. They could hear them enter the kitchen after them as they exited into a huge dining hall and made their way to the opposite end where there was yet another set of double doors. Pushing through those doors, they found themselves in what looked like a ball room. Windows lined the one wall.

"Units be advised, the detainees are in the Grand Room," one guard's voice spoke. "Unit 3 closing east entrance to Grand Room," another's spoke. "Unit 5 closing in on west entrance," the first replied.

They were trapped. Zack ran to the windows. He gazed down. _The Courtyard. _Just then the doors on either side of the room burst open and guards poured in. There were quite a few. Ten or so on each side. "Drop what's in your hands and get them in the air!" One of the guards shouted at them. They all had their guns aimed.

"It's part of a bed frame, dude, duh!" Zack exclaimed.

"PUT IT THE FUCK DOWN!"

Zack and Cloud exchanged glances. Zack grinned. "Um…how 'bout you come make me, bitch," Zack challenged then. The guard remained where he was, aiming his gun. "No? Okay, I'll come to you," he said with a shrug before charging at the guards on the east side. They fired on him. He dodged and deflected easily. Cloud did the same to the other group of guards. He didn't last very long with the long piece of bed frame. It was difficult enough to maneuver without a cast around your one wrist. It was hand to hand then. He realized the guards were more reluctant to fire when they couldn't get a clear shot. _Of course, Hojo wants us alive_ he thought to himself. He grabbed onto a guard's automatic, butting it up into the guard's face, breaking his nose and sending him to the floor. Cloud dropped to his one knee and fired on the nearest three guards then. The clip ran out of ammo after that but he used the butt of the gun to knock down a few more. He felt a boot hit him hard in his left hamstring then that sent a bolt of pain shooting up his leg. Instantly his knee gave out. The guard behind him grabbed him before he could hit the polished marble. He held him up, his arms holding onto Cloud's. There was just the two guards left standing on his side. The one was keeping him immobilized while the other advanced and delivered some hits to his stomach and right cheek bone. He struggled against the one holding onto him as he tried to push him down to the floor. "GIVE IT UP!" the guard yelled into his ear.

"FUCK YOU!" Cloud shouted back at him. Just then, there came a cry of pain from the guard and he let go of Cloud's arms. Cloud dropped to his hands and knees and then looked up to see the guard trying to reach for something at his back. He turned to reveal the end of one of the bolts from the cot sticking out of the right side of his back, presumably in between two ribs. The last guard left went running off toward the kitchen. Zack knocked the guard out who was still grabbing his back. Cloud got to his feet.

"Alright?" Zack asked. Cloud nodded, leaning over, his hands on his knees as he took some deep breaths. "So, ready to take a trip?"

"What?" Cloud questioned in confusion.

Zack led him to the windows. They gazed down at the courtyard. "Look at it this way, now at least we don't have to go through Turk headquarters," he said, grinning as he picked up the piece of bed frame and prepared to swing it at the window. Cloud just stood silent, not really knowing if Zack was serious about them jumping from the second story. Sure…it wasn't _that _high. But still… The first hit to the glass only cracked it. It took two more hits before it shattered. They could hear on their ear pieces that more guards were headed there way. A lot more by the sounds of it. They kicked away as much of the glass sticking up from the bottom of the frame as they could before sitting and swinging their legs over. "Here goes," Zack said before gripping the frame and turning toward it, lowering his legs down first. He hung for a second from the frame before letting himself fall. He hit the grass with a soft thud, rolling once then stopping on one knee. He watched as Cloud did the same though he landed a little harder, falling onto his back after he landed. Zack laughed at him.

"Very graceful," he commented as he reached down to help his friend up.

"Shuddup," Cloud muttered as he took Zack's hand and came to a stand.

"Let's go." Zack pointed to the far end of the courtyard at a stone wall. They started into a run for the wall. Behind them, more guards were hurrying into the courtyard. "We're gonna make it!" Zack shouted at Cloud. Cloud didn't respond. He listened to the sounds of his breath going in and out and his heart beating in his ears as he stared at the stone wall and knew that outside of it was freedom.

Zack reached the wall first, scaling it fairly quick. It was about 9 feet high. Straddling it, he reached down to cash Cloud's arm as he leapt from the ground. Once Cloud was up, Zack threw his other leg over the wall and jumped down. He turned away from the wall, his eyes widening in surprise as he found himself standing in front of a group of ten guards. Cloud landed behind Zack just as two shots were fired out of the lead guard's gun. The first bullet hit Zack's stomach, jolting him, his shoulders bent forward and the second went straight through his chest, out his back and hit Cloud just under his left collar bone. Zack fell back into him, knocking him back against the wall. They both fell to the ground. Cloud grasped his wound, confused over what just happened. _Did he just get shot?_ He forgot all about himself and the searing hot bullet that was blistering away at his flesh from inside his body when he realized Zack was really hurt. He was pressing a hand to his stomach where blood was seeping out in between his fingers creating a large circle on the guard uniform. He seemed to be gasping for air.

"Zack!" Cloud said his name, the fear in his voice evident as it was gripping him from head to toe. He moved out from under him, letting him lay back. "Zack, say something!" He clearly tried but all that came out his mouth when he tried was more blood. Cloud looked down at him helplessly, pressing his own hands over Zack's, trying to keep it in his body. Cloud realized then that the guards were shouting something at him. Hands reached for his arms, bringing them behind his back, preparing to cuff him. Something exploded in him then. He let out a loud cry as he threw his head back, hitting the guard's face behind him, then grabbed a guard from next to him, throwing him into the one bent over, gripping his face. The others were readying their weapons but Cloud didn't give them a chance to fire. A round house kick took out one. As the two on either side of him turned to fire Cloud dropped to the ground and they fired on each other. As the others came after him, Cloud reached into his pocket grabbing the bolts from his cot. He jumped to meet the first, rolling past him and then pivoting to jam one of the bolts into the back of his calf. He screamed in pain. It seemed to confuse the guard directly behind him who stood frozen in shock. Cloud rose fast and jammed the second bolt just under the guard's ribcage. Another cry of pain.

Cloud's momentary rampage was about to end abruptly as he pushed the guard grasping his ribs to the ground and then turned to face the remaining three. As he turned he was met with a fistful of dirt in his face. He dropped the last few bolts, raising his hands to his eyes as they were filled with particles of grit. The guard tackled him to the ground then. He fought against him, wrestling momentarily till he was paralyzed in pain by the guard pressing his hand down over the wound under his collar bone. He released a pained cry that was cut off when the butt of a rifle struck the left side of his ribcage. It came down a second time on his left brow and cheek bones, throwing his head to the side and blurring his vision. When he rolled his head back and opened his eyes everything seemed silent and numb. He focused on the sky. _So blue_ he thought. It was his last vision as the rifle was coming at him for a third strike and he shut his eyes, letting the force throw him back into darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

_Hey guys! Happy Wednesday lol only two more days till the weekend! Here is the next chapter for y'all! I hope you enjoy it. I found when I read it over it went really quick cause it's more intense than previous chapters. It got me wondering. Do you guys prefer how I am updating now with chapters that perhaps aren't as long as they could be but you get a new chapter every few days or would you rather longer chapters but with less frequent updates? I'm just curious. So let me know what you think! _

_As always, thank you so much for reading and for reviewing! I appreciate it more than I can say :D_

_Read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: FF no mine. _

* * *

Chapter X

Blood. So much blood. It was all over his hands. He looked down at Zack who was gripping his wounds in agony, trying to keep his life from slipping away from him. "Zack, no!" He cried out, reaching out to help him but he was being pulled back, out of reach of his friend. "Don't go!"

The image seemed to break apart and grow fuzzy then as he felt himself growing heavy. His body jolted, snapping him out of his dream state and bringing him back to the waking world. A loud cry left his mouth involuntarily as his senses were coming back to him. It was partly from pain but mostly from the realization that their most recent attempt at escape had failed. _So Close_. They had been so damn close to freedom. He opened his eyes slow, one seemed to be held shut by something, something thick and sticky that eventually pulled apart and allowed his lids to open. His face throbbed intensely. It felt like he had run into a brick wall face-first. He motioned to reach for his face but his arm barely rose a few centimeters before it was restrained. He became aware of the feeling of cold metal around his wrists and under his bare back. The cast had been cut off on his right wrist so he could be restrained. _So much for a clean heal_. He gazed around in the dim light and realized after a moment that he was in the lab back in the basement of the mansion. Taking deep shaky breaths, he ignored the protests of agony from his ribcage as it expanded on each intake of air. He pulled at the restraints uselessly, feeling himself trembling against the cold of the room. The only sounds were coming from him. He was alone. Though that didn't last long.

The door to the lab opened with a creak and footsteps approached. Cloud shuddered as Professor Hojo came into his view. He smiled eerily. "C4, you're awake at last," he spoke.

"Where's Zack?" Cloud questioned, trying to seem firm though his voice barely came out above a cracked whisper.

"I'm very disappointed in you, C4," he said, ignoring Cloud's question as he wheeled a tray over next to him and turned on a bright light above the table. Cloud squinted against the sudden brightness, feeling it almost in the back of his skull. "You've only created more problems for yourself by your futile attempts to get away." He was putting on a set of rubber gloves and moving some things around on the tray.

"Tell me were Zack is," Cloud demanded then.

"You know, you actually remind me a lot of my greatest subject, when he was much younger of course."

Cloud exhaled with a huff, shaking his head and facing the ceiling, closing his eyes. Frustration was rushing through him. He wanted to grab the old man by the collar of his shirt and throw him up against the wall and make him tell him what he wanted to know. He opened his eyes when he felt Hojo's cold hand on his chest, just below his neck. He saw him holding a pair of forceps in his other hand which were lowered to the bullet wound just under his collarbone. Cloud gritted his teeth hard as he felt the surgical steel of the forceps dig into the torn flesh and push deeper into his tissue.

"Of course. Who better to be the destroyer of the greatest specimen to ever walk the earth than someone just like him?" Hojo mused as he pried the forceps through the wound to grip the bullet lodged within. The lead emerged with the forceps covered in a mixture of coagulated and fresh blood. Cloud let the air out of his chest he had been holding in tightly trying to brace himself against the pain. He was a little relieved to feel a new release of adrenaline rushing through him taking away some of the internal fire. Hojo set the forceps down on the tray and then reached for something else. A moment later he pressed a surgical towel soaked in alcohol into the wound. Cloud bit back the immediate urge to cry out and let out a low groan instead, again grinding his teeth together so hard he chipped off a piece of one his molars.

"You know, I was quite skeptical about you, C4. I found it hard to believe you could possibly be the one shown on security footage from the mako reactor," Hojo continued on. He leaned over and picked something up. It was a thin video relay consol that he held up to show Cloud. Cloud watched the grainy footage of those few minutes in the reactor when Sephiroth had impaled him on his sword. He could almost feel that sensation again watching it. He watched himself take control in the video then, sending the general flying into the reactor where he dropped far below to be consumed by the raw mako. Hojo chuckled. "But then, I saw this," he added before fast forwarding to footage taken from a camera just outside the courtyard wall that showed he and Zack jumping the wall and coming face to face with the group of Shinra guards. Cloud's chest tightened and his stomach churned hard as he watched Zack being fired on. It all seemed to happen so much faster watching it than it had felt when it was actually happening. Instead of watching himself on the screen taking out more than half the group of guards, Cloud kept his eyes glued to Zack who lay in the grass, grasping his stomach and twisting painfully, reaching out for something to grip as he struggled to breathe. He felt nothing but terrible dread when he saw Zack's movements slow and then stop altogether. Hojo cut off the video then and set the consol down along with the surgical towel. "That's the C4 I'm interested in," he said as he picked up a reverse cutting needle and suture material.

"Is Zack dead?" Cloud asked, his voice quivering as he held back the emotion that was choking him up. Hojo continued to ignore him as he started to stitch closed Cloud's wound. "Please, tell me what's happened to him." Again, no response from Hojo. When finished with the bullet wound he moved on to Cloud's face. That's when Cloud realized he probably looked worse than he imagined, seeing how much drying blood Hojo cleaned from his face as well as the fact that he then applied stitches in a rough arch shape from the edge of his left eye brow to a spot just under his left eye.

"You know, I told you I was going to have to punish you if you attempted escape again, C4," Hojo said as he finished his patch-up work on Cloud, discarding his rubber gloves and pushing the tray away from the table. He pressed a button on a nearby control panel. Cloud watched a smile creep across his stupid face. A moment later the door to the lab opened and two guards entered. He nodded to them and they came forward. Hojo played around with the control panel and the restraints clipped open on Cloud's wrists. Not a second later they were replaced by metal cuffs and he was being dragged off the table by the guards. They didn't allow him to walk. One gripped him under his arms and the other took hold of his legs as he was carried to the door.

"HOJO!" Cloud shouted to the old man as he was being taken away. "Tell me what happened to Zack! Where is he, Hojo!" he demanded loudly. Hojo only laughed at him.

He wasn't taken back to the cell he and Zack had shared. He was led instead down a hall deeper into the D-Wing. The thing about the D-Wing was that it retained the original structure and architecture that it had had since the time it was built. The walls were made of stone and the area had a deeply cold, musty smell. Everything about it was different, even the lighting. There wasn't the same fluorescent lighting as the rest of the basement areas. It had a very archaic atmosphere and reminded Cloud of something like an old cellar or crypt. Eventually, the guards came to a stop outside metal door. The one unlocked it and they brought him in. It was a small room, smaller than the one he'd shared with Zack. There was nothing in it at all. Instead of a light bulb hanging from the ceiling there was some sort of fixture with a heavy chain hanging from it, a large rusty metal clip on the end. His arms were raised up and the short bit of chain between his thick cuffs was clipped to the chain in the ceiling. The guards let go of him then, letting his body hang from the fixture in the ceiling. He grimaced from the pain that shot through his cracked ribs and the area where his bullet wound sat. The only part of his feet that touched the ground were the very tips of his big toes, and that was only if he allowed himself to go limp and his body to stretch down from his shoulder sockets. The guards turned their backs on him then.

"WAIT!" he called out to them. "What's happened to my friend?!" They ignored him, slamming the door to the room shut and locking it before walking off down the hall. He was left in near total darkness. The only bit of light came from the dim light in the hall that slipped in through a small barred window in the door. He tensed his joints, trying to relieve some of the pressure of having all his weight hanging from his wrists. The cuffs dug into his skin. His body trembled against the damp cold of the room. All he could see in front of him was the image of Zack lying motionless in the grass. It didn't take very long before he found himself giving in to his emotions and allowing himself to cry softly.

000

The hours crawled by. It hadn't been long before Cloud's upper body was going numb from having the blood drain out of his arms and rest in his lower body. Soon, his fingers were cramping and ceasing up from the lake of circulation and he could no longer move them. They were frozen into weak fists. He felt sick, exhausted, and cold. He tried so hard to rid himself of all thoughts but he couldn't. The darkness left his mind the perfect canvass to display the images of all his memories to him. He swore every painful event he had ever experienced was being shown to him. Scattered amongst the bad memories were the few good ones. Memories of he and Tifa at the willow tree in Nibelheim or he and Zack hanging out after training sessions at the academy. In his ear he almost swore he could hear Zack's voice. _Hang in there, Spikey, it'll be fine, I swear…_

"Please…sleep," he breathed out, shutting his eyes and lowering his head, letting himself go limp despite the shocks of agony it whipped through him. Eventually he did but it was far from peaceful and it seemed unbelievably short to the point where he could have sworn it had only been a few hours. He stirred when he heard the sound of a key unlocking the door to the room. It opened with a loud whine and two dark silhouettes stood in the doorway. One sparked up a lighter and lit a cigarette before coming forward. Cloud squinted through the darkness to make out the features of the two men.

"Aw, just look at yourself, baby boy," the one with the cigarette spoke then. A wave of distain ran into Cloud as he realized who it was. Reno's features came into view as he stepped up in front of him.

"What the fuck do _you_ want?" Cloud questioned steadily though he was shaking all over from the cold. Reno took a puff of his cigarette and blew out the smoke in the direction of Cloud's face. Cloud closed his eyes momentarily against the sting of the smoke.

"You're pretty grouchy today. Whatsa matter? Didn't ya sleep well?" he asked with a smirk. Cloud glared at him. He started a slow circle around Cloud. "That was a funny stunt you and pretty boy pulled yesterday. Word is ya put a lotta guys in the hospital."

"Oh yeah? Good," Cloud responded. He felt Reno's hand on his back, pushing against it and starting his body swinging forward a little. The motion awoke Cloud's nerve endings and they began to fire up, sending small shocks of pain through his body.

"Yeah…a lot of 'em are pretty pissed," Reno said, coming back round in front of Cloud, giving him another small push. "Ain't that right, Rude?"

"Mmmhmm…they've been taking a lot of shit from the supervisors," Rude added from nearby.

"They're talking revenge."

Cloud stared down at Reno who took another drag on his cigarette. A few beads of sweat that had been building up on Cloud's forehead from the agony he was in rolled down the sides of his face. "But really, it depends on opportunity," he added. "You're all alone in here…pretty easy to get to I'd say, while your buddy is locked up in the med sector under observation." Cloud's eyes widened.

"Zack's alive?" he asked, his heart suddenly beating hard in his chest. Reno observed him in amusement.

"Barely," he said with a nod. Cloud felt a rush of relief come over him. "Yeah…you seem to be in a pretty vulnerable position, baby boy," he went back to rambling. "I think they're more keen on whoopin' pretty boy's ass though. Apparently, you're a little too cute. When it comes to _your_ ass they probably have different things in mind. If you know what I mean." He ran a hand down Cloud's bare chest in a diagonal around to his hip as he was making another circle around him. Cloud tried to jerk himself away from him, anger coming over him.

"Fuck you, Turk! Go back to your spot at Rufus Shinra's feet!" he spat at Reno, trying to turn his body to see him. He felt a spot in his lower back start to sear in sudden pain. He groaned hard through his clenched jaw. The worst of the heat dissipated after a few seconds and he saw Reno toss the butt of his extinguished cigarette off into the corner of the room.

"You should learn to watch your mouth. Bad things could happen if you don't," he advised and then looked at Rude. They exchanged a laugh then turned for the door. "Catcha later, baby boy," he called back to Cloud as he and Rude exited the room. The door shut and locked, leaving Cloud in darkness again.

_Zack's alive_. That's all that was running through Cloud's mind at the moment. He'd have given anything to be able to see him. He struggled in his cuffs, trying to turn his wrists in them. They were so sore, the flesh was rubbed raw. His body was stiff, his torso a mass of pain that ended at his stomach which was aching in hunger. He wondered how long he was going to be left like that and more importantly, how much longer he was going to be able to take the pain. Every breath hurt, every small movement. _Torture_, he thought then. Until that point the thought had not entered into his mind that that's exactly what it was. That brought with it a return to some of the things he had learned in his training in the militia. All the recruits were required to sit through a seminar that discussed the possibilities of being tortured in active duty and coping mechanisms that could be implemented if the need should arise. One was the use of breathing techniques. Relaxation. The body registers less pain when it's relaxed. Sure. Cause who couldn't relax when they were going through something utterly horrifying? Another technique was the use of biofeedback. Essentially using mind over matter. Talking to your body and telling it that it was not experiencing something excruciating, that it was simply an illusion. Cloud was pretty sure his body was saying back to him _fuck you_. Then there was always the use of the technique of detachment. Absorb yourself in something else, a memory. Leave your body. Cloud sighed. He doubted it would work but he had to try. He closed his eyes and searched for something to absorb himself in.

000

Zack came out of the numbness of unconsciousness slowly, feeling like he weighed five hundred pounds and that all five hundred of them had been run through a blender. He groaned as he opened his eyes to the ceiling of the med sector. There was some movement then from nearby and the ceiling was replaced by the face of Dr. Marsh. "Back here yet again," he mumbled as he tried to clear the haze from his head.

"Zack, how are you feeling?" Dr. Marsh asked. "Do you feel any pain?"

"Is Cloud okay?" he asked, ignoring her question and turning his head from the light she tried to shine in his eyes. She tried to prod his head back so she could check his eyes once more but he pushed her hand away. "I'm fine," he assured her in a not so convincing tone.

"You were shot twice, Zack," she pointed out.

"Is that all?"

"Funny," she said with a serious face. Zack tried to sit up and she pushed him back. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I was attempting to sit up actually."

"Well don't!" she said harshly and he looked at her with a questioning gaze. She stepped back from him a little. "That was a really stupid thing you and Cloud did yesterday," she said after a brief awkward silence. Zack laughed. "It's not funny," she snapped.

"Actually it is!" he snapped back at her. "It's funny that you seriously think we're just gonna sit here and accept being held against our will. If you really think that then you need your goddamn head examined, lady!" She was silent then. "Where's Cloud?" he asked then, seeing he wasn't in view.

"I don't know," she said quietly, shaking her head.

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him. He wasn't brought here," she explained.

A worried expression took over Zack's face. His jaw pulsed as he clenched his clenched it tightly and appeared to be thinking. "Doc, you have to go find him and make sure he's okay," he said at last. Marsh started to shake her head. "Yes!" Zack retorted. "You have to!"

"No, I don't!" she responded harshly and turned for the door.

"Doc, wait!" Zack called out. She stopped and looked back. "Please, if you have any bit of humanity at all…please, wherever he is, he's alone." His eyes pleaded with her. She exhaled long before nodding slowly.

"Okay," she agreed.

"Thank you," Zack spoke sincerely, watching her leave the room. "Hang in there, buddy," he said out loud, hoping that wherever Cloud was he was okay.

000

Back in his cell, Cloud had been absorbed in his thoughts, his daydreams. That's all he had been doing for hours, staring off into space and dreaming. He had dozed a bit in between but he found it was ten times more painful to wake up after sleeping so he only did it when he felt he was going to pass out whether he liked it or not. He looked to the door. His ears had picked up a sound. Footsteps. They were headed toward him. He became alert in anticipation, hoping it was someone coming to take him out of that room, out of the torture. A feeling of unease crept over him however as he recognized at least four sets of boots plodding their way down the long stone hall. He heard whispered voices. He remembered suddenly what Reno had said earlier in the day. _They're talking revenge_. He kept his eyes glued on the door, his heart beating hard against his chest. Just as he realized that they were right outside the door, a face appeared through the small window, gazing in at him. _Oh shit_ was the only thought that ran circles around his brain. One of the men outside fumbled with the lock, working it open. The door creaked open then and three guards with mischievous smirks entered. One was holding a nightstick, another had something else. Cloud couldn't be sure but it looked almost like a soldering iron.

"Heh, look at the little bitch now," the one with the nightstick said with a laugh.

"Yeah, the little runt ain't so tough now," the unarmed one agreed.

"Looks a little scared, I'd say."

"I think you're right." He stood in front of Cloud, grinning. "Well, I'd promise to be gentle, but I ain't no liar," he said as he reached out to touch Cloud's face. Cloud jerked his head away fast.

"Don't fucking touch me!" he warned, his expression hard and determined, despite the underlying fear he felt.

The guards looked at one another and laughed. "He's feisty!" the one with the iron remarked. "That's your type, ain't it, Rock?" he spoke to the one with the nightstick.

"Touch, touch," the guard at Cloud's side taunted as he poked Cloud's side. "What ya gonna do about it?"

"Fuck you!" Cloud responded angrily. The guard grabbed his jaw and spoke close to him.

"No. Fuck you, little bitch," he whispered then loosened his grip on Cloud's jaw. Cloud pulled away from him and watched him step back and then disappear behind him. Suddenly, the guard reached around from behind him and forced something like a rag into his mouth, and held it tight by both ends at the back of his head. Cloud struggled against it but was met with the brutal tugging at the sides of his mouth from the material of the gag.

"It's gonna be a sweet pay-back tonight," the iron-holding guard commented as he stepped toward Cloud an eerie look on his face.

Cloud gathered what strength he could and brought his knees up before he kicked out hard into the guard, sending him crashing backwards. "Little prick!" the other to his side exclaimed as he swung the nightstick hard into Cloud's right knee. Cloud bit down on the gag in his mouth and cried out. The one he'd kicked down was back on his feet. He drove his right fist into the left side of Cloud's face, ripping some of the stitches around his eye. His suspicions that what the guard held in his left hand was a soldering iron were pretty much confirmed then when an excruciating sensation of being burned broke out from where the iron was pressed into his right side, just below his ribs. He tried to restrain himself but there was no way. He screamed into the gag in his mouth and pulled hard in his cuffs, so hard that thin lines of blood started to trail down his arms from his wrists. When the iron was pulled back from his body he was hit with the sudden overwhelming smell of his own cooked flesh. A wave of nausea went through him and for a moment he thought he might pass out. Tears were streaming from the corners of his eyes. The guard with the nightstick fumbled with the buttons at the waistband of Cloud's pants.

It was like some bad dream unfolding, Cloud thought. It didn't seem real. This couldn't really be happening. Could it? He couldn't fight back anymore. He had exhausted every bit of strength he had left. The only thing he could do was pray for help to come. He had never been more shocked in his life than when it did. One of the guards watching outside the door leaned in and told them someone was coming. The guards looked a little panicked then. They stood silently, trying to stay as quiet as possible. The one behind Cloud clutched his hair hard and spoke into his ear. "Don't you make a fucking sound," he warned. Cloud whimpered a little through the gag and closed his eyes tight, a few more tears squeezing their way out at the corners. _Please_, he begged silently.

Outside in the hall, the guards were talking to someone, trying to persuade them on their way. The door opened suddenly and Cloud opened his eyes to see someone he hadn't expected. Dr. Marsh stared in shock at the scene before her, her mouth slightly open and her eyes widening. Her eyes traveled from one guard to the next, standing around Cloud. She looked him up and down. Hanging, suspended by his bloodied wrists, she felt her heart break a little. Dark bruising colored much of the one side of his face and in several places on his torso. She took note of the stitched and swollen wounds and his heavy, terrified eyes. His whole body was shaking and he was visibly in a lot of pain. She straightened herself as she felt anger come over her then.

"What the hell is going on?!" she questioned, looking to each of the guards. They exchange looks with each other.

"With all due respect, doctor, I think you should just turn around and walk away," the one with the soldering iron spoke, a hint of threat in his tone.

Marsh moved her eyes to Cloud's. She could almost hear him pleading though them. "Well, with all _due respect _I suggest you and your comrades disperse right this second before I start taking down all your names and ID numbers," she said firmly, crossing her arms in front of her. The guards hesitated, looking at each other. "NOW!" she demanded. Slowly, they complied, moving away from Cloud, the one behind him releasing the gag from his mouth before heading for the door. The doctor watched them all leave before she turned back to Cloud, who was breathing shakily. "Goddamnit, Cloud…" she muttered as she moved up to him. He looked about ready to either break into sobs or pass out. Maybe both. "Let's get you down from here," she said softly as she reached up for the chain. Cloud nodded as he tried to somehow help Dr. Marsh lift him enough to be able to get the chain from his cuffs unclipped. He let out some pained sounds and thought for sure his body was going to just pull away from his arms at the sockets. Then, his body was released from its suspension. He fell hard, having no more strength to hold himself up he fell into the doctor who managed to support his body till she got him lowered into a sitting position on the floor. He cried out loudly from the forced movement in his stiff and cramped shoulder joints as his arms lowered. The blood rushed fast into his arms and that was a whole different pain. Pins and needles amplified by a hundred. "I know," Marsh spoke softly, sympathizing with him as she crouched next to him, a hand on his back.

"Is Zack okay?" he choked out then, his watery blue eyes looking up at her. She looked back at him in amazement.

"I swear you guys are the same person sometimes. You're just lucky to not be annoying…He's fine," she said, nodding. "He woke up not long ago, wanted me to find you and see how you're doing." Cloud seemed somewhat relieved. "How long have you been in here?" she asked then.

He shook his head. "I-I don't know," he responded quietly, his voice shaking. "Since yesterday…"

"Are…you okay?" she asked awkwardly. She immediately wanted to scold herself. _Of course he's not okay, you idiot_, she said to herself. That question opened the gates on his emotions, though he tried so hard to contain them. Marsh saw his expression change even though his head was lowered. He brought his cuffed hands to his face as he started to weep, his shoulders shaking. The doctor watched him uneasily. She didn't know what she should do. One part of her said _put your arms around him, you moron! He's just a kid and he's scared_. The other part, the one that had been drilled into her for years said _back up, you're getting far too personally involved with your work_. But she was already involved. She knew that. That's why she came down there in the first place to find out if he was okay. She couldn't just turn her back now. Slowly she sat herself down on the floor next to him and reached one arm around his shoulders, pulling him toward her. She placed her other hand on his head as he turned into her chest. He gripped the sleeve of her lab coat as he cried.

"I'm so sorry, Cloud," she whispered after a few minutes. "You and Zack don't deserve this. You shouldn't be here."

"Then help us," he said in a small voice filled with anguish. "Please."

She winced and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to control her own emotions. "I…Cloud…I…" she struggled with what to say. Cloud took a deep breath, calming himself somewhat.

"It's okay," he uttered weakly.

"What?"

"I understand why you can't…"

"Don't say that," she said then, pulling herself away from him gently. "You don't have to say that." She pushed herself to her feet. He looked up at her, the low light from the hall illuminating his damp eyes and cheeks.

"You'd be risking your career…probably your life," he responded quietly. She looked away from him.

"That shouldn't matter," she protested. "It shouldn't matter…but it does. I'm a monster…" she said then, almost to herself. She couldn't stay in there any longer. She felt like the room was closing in on her. She couldn't bear looking at Cloud for even a second longer. It hurt too much. Without saying another word, she headed for the door. Cloud watched as she shut and locked it before hurrying off down the hall. She marched toward the lab quickly, hoping Hojo was still there doing some late night paper work. She opened the door with a little more force than she had intended and looked to Hojo's desk where thankfully the old professor sat.

"Professor," she spoke, trying to keep herself calm and collected.

"What is it, doctor?" Hojo asked without looking up.

"Why do you have Cluh- uh C4 sequestered in a room in this wing?"

Hojo looked at her a little suspiciously. "He's being punished," he replied then before going back to the document he was looking over.

"Do you not think it's a little excessive, sir?" She picked her words carefully. He returned his hard gaze to her.

"You are no longer on this project, Dr. Marsh," he spoke firmly. She stood awestruck for a moment.

"But, professor…why?"

"You are allowing your personal feelings to interfere with your work."

"Sir, you brought me on this project with orders that I should be concerned with the welfare of the subjects because the success of the project depends on their health. You cannot take me off the project for doing my job."

"Yes, and you should know that part of this project involves teaching discipline and obedience to the specimens and part of teaching those things involves the implementation of punishment when they disobey. Now, if you want your job, doctor, I suggest you do it properly."

Marsh stood for a moment in silence, hesitant on what she should do. She wanted to protest but she restrained herself. She needed her job. "Yes, sir," she said at last before giving a short nod and turning to leave the lab.

She walked toward the med sector, shedding a few quiet tears before composing herself and entering. She mentally lectured herself for her behavior. She needed to stay focused. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Zack calling her from the next room. She took a deep breath then headed in.

"Did you find him?" Zack asked eagerly. She nodded. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine," she said simply. He narrowed his eyes a little.

"You're lying," he said then. He saw that her lab coat had traces of smeared blood on it in several places and the truth was not so easily hidden in her eyes.

"No. He's fine," she repeated, then reached to turn off the light in the room. "Get some rest Z1," she said before closing the door. He stared at the door in shock for a brief moment before he grew angry.

"Bitch!" he exclaimed before laying his head back down and taking some heated breaths. Something had happened. Something that freaked the hell out of the doctor enough to make her revert back into her scientist shell. It only increased his worry over Cloud. He felt helpless and it drove him nuts.

Back in his dark and damp cell, Cloud hugged his knees to his chest. He was so cold and so tired but he couldn't sleep. Fear was cramped in his stomach over the thought that those guards might come back. In all the years of his life he couldn't remember ever feeling more alone, and for him, that was really saying something.


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey guys!! So I was hoping to have this chapter out yesterday but I was stuck writing an essay for school instead lol. But worry not 'cause the next chapter has arrived! I got awesome feedback from ya'll on the last chapter so thank you all so very much for that! I hope my chapters continue to please! Read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: Final Fantasy belongs not to me…unfortunately _

Chapter XI

If it weren't for the morphine being pumped into him through a tube, Zack doubted he would have slept at all that night. He slipped in and out of uneasy sleep. During the times he was awake his head was muddled with hoards of thoughts. He kept running circles around one particular thought. _How the hell am I going to get Cloud and I out of here?_ Something that had entered his mind more than once was the answer he refused to believe. It was the answer that said _it's impossible to get out of here without outside help_. There was no one that could help them. The one person who may have done something had decided suddenly she was going to detach herself from her humanity. Dr. Marsh. It angered Zack to think about it. He wondered how someone could do what she does. How she could live with herself. How she could sleep at night. Still, as much as he hated to admit it, she was looking to be the only way to freedom.

It was mid morning when the door to his room entered and Dr. Marsh entered. She avoided eye contact with Zack as she moved to his bed side and shut of his IV.

"What's going on, doc?" he asked. She didn't answer him. "Come on, what's the silent treatment for?" he questioned half-jokingly. Nothing. She removed the IV from his arm without saying a word and then left the room. Not a second later, a guard entered and began unlocking the cuffs attaching his wrist to the guardrail of the bed.

"Let's go," the guard said, waiting for Zack to pull himself up from the bed. He did so painfully. It felt like the bullet that hit his stomach had shredded his insides. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had. The guard took his upper arm and he didn't protest though he would have liked to. He would have had a much harder time walking on his own however. He was marched from the med sector and down a long hall. Questions flew through his mind about where they were headed. It became obvious fairly shortly where they were headed when he saw the D-Wing sign come into view as they rounded a corner.

000

Exhausted. That's the only thing Cloud was really feeling after his second night in the dark, musty cell. After forcing himself to stay awake all night he felt like he hadn't slept in months. While he was _aware _of the pain all over he wasn't sure he was really _feeling _it anymore. His brain almost seemed to have shut down. He sat, staring at the door thoughtlessly, listening to the small sounds that came up every once and awhile. The dropping of water from the ceiling, the soft scratching from some rodent somewhere, the buzzing of insects hovering around the light bulb in the hall.

His senses snapped awake however when he heard footsteps heading toward the cell. He gripped his knees tightly and watched the door intensely. There was the jingling of keys that accompanied the footsteps. A figure appeared outside the door then and the door was unlocked. Cloud gazed up at the guard who entered, feeling his stomach plummet in nervousness. The guard reached down for his arm and Cloud found himself recoiling instinctively. The guard exhaled heavily. "Come on, let's go," he said gruffly, waiting for Cloud to bring himself to a stand. He did so using the wall to support him a little then moved past the guard to the door, limping with his right leg that throbbed intensely at the knee where he had been struck by the nightstick the night before. The guard walked beside him with a hand firmly on his shoulder. He knew where they were going almost right away. Seeing the door to the lab up ahead he felt his stomach twinge with nausea.

The door to the lab opened and Zack almost leapt from the chair when he spotted Cloud. He was held back by a guard who stood behind him. "Cloud!" he called out to his friend whose eyes seemed to brighten when they met with his. Hojo stepped forward then from his desk and stopped in front of Cloud, facing him.

Cloud realized for the first time how short Hojo actually was. Cloud had always seen himself as a guy a little on the shorter side and yet he stood about an inch and a half taller than the professor. "Well C4," Hojo spoke evenly with his hands behind his back. "Have you had enough punishment or do you need to go back for another night?" he questioned icily. Cloud shook his head. "What's that, C4?" Hojo asked, leaning in with a hand cupped around his ear.

"No…sir," Cloud spoke uneasily. Hojo studied his face.

"Good," he spoke at last.

"What the hell were you punishing Cloud for?" Zack asked from where he sat, his voice was shrouded in frustration and building anger. "Wasn't his idea to bust out," he added. The guard who brought Cloud in led him over to the chair next to Zack who looked his friend up and down sadly. He could easily forget all about worrying over himself just by looking at him, bruised, battered, dirty, and highlighted by dried blood here and there.

"Well, fortunately for you Z1, your punishment was the near forfeiture of your life. I'd be happy to indulge you however if you feel that was not enough," Hojo said in amusement.

"Don't, Zack," Cloud said from next to him, seeing him about to reply to Hojo and knowing that he was going to come out with something along the lines of _bring it on_. Zack looked at him hard and Cloud shook his head, pleading with him silently to just let it go. He didn't want to think of what could happen if Zack was put in the room he was and the revenging guards found out. Thankfully, Zack gave in and shut up.

Hojo looked somewhat disappointed. "Well, if you change your mind, Z1…" he trailed off then as the door opened and Dr. Marsh entered. She nodded at Hojo who told her to proceed with her preliminary assessments. She went about checking both Cloud's and Zack's vitals and had the one guard remove Cloud's cuffs so she could follow up the preliminaries with the secondary procedures of removing blood samples. Cloud's blistered and torn flesh met the cold lab air happily though it almost felt like the metal was still clamped around them. He looked with disgust upon his own wounds. He was tired of seeing his own blood. He watched the doctor's face as she drew blood samples. He saw her eyes shift uneasily to his a few times though she was careful not to let her gaze linger. He could see she was exerting a lot of effort to appear indifferent.

Zack for some strange reason was silent. Cloud looked to him to see him watching two of the assistants fiddling with the controls on the two cylinders at the back of the room, the same two that he and Zack had awoke in after what happened at Mt. Nibel. Hojo was standing with them, blabbering on about something to do with pressurization. Cloud sensed the same thing Zack obviously did as he turned to meet Cloud's eyes and slouched a little in the chair. "This is gonna be interesting," he said dejectedly.

"What do you think is going to happen?" Cloud questioned quietly. Zack shrugged.

"No friggin' clue…"

When Marsh had finished with her secondary procedures, Hojo instructed the guards to bring Zack and Cloud over. Neither of them put up a fight as they were brought over to the tubes, though neither of them was feeling particularly capable of fighting either. They were stripped down to their boxers and pushed into the cylinders, the doors sliding shut with a hiss and a suction sound. They stood nervously, wondering what would happen next. The assistants were busy at the controls, taking instruction from Hojo. A moment or so passed and something dropped from the ceiling of each tube.

"What the hell?" Zack muttered as he reached out and grasped what he assumed was an air mask connected to a long tube that ran all the way out of the tube from the ceiling and down the back, connecting to a large canister of something. Just then, water began to push up from the grate at the floor. It rushed in fast, reaching his knees in just seconds. He looked over at Cloud who seemed pretty much as confused and anxious as he felt himself. He was backed up against the wall of the tube, watching the quickly rising water as it climbed above his knees and headed for his waist. When the water was at his neck, Zack gave in and reached once again for the air mask, covering his mouth and nose with it just as the water made it to his chin. When the mask touched his skin he was startled by the way it gripped to him through suction and though at first he held his breath when the water went over his head, he eventually exhaled what was left in his lungs and took a breath, relieved to realize he was taking in oxygen.

He glanced over at Cloud to see him submerged, with a slight look of panic on his face as he thrashed in the water, trying to get to the disappearing surface. Zack banged on the heavy glass of his tube to get his attention. Cloud stopped thrashing then and looked at Zack who motioned for him to take the mask that was floating behind him. He did so reluctantly, allowing it to attach to his face in the same way it had to Zack's. Through the water, they could just barely make out what Hojo was saying to his assistants who were taking down notes as he spoke.

"The water allows us to control pressure and temperature in the chambers so that we may counteract some of those aversive affects associated with the mako treatment," Hojo spoke matter-of-factly. "Microscopic censors in the water also monitor the specimens' vitals during the process. With the airways secure we are now able to administer the mako." With that said, he punched in a code on each of the control panels next to the cylinders.

Zack watched intensely, awaiting what was going to happen, feeling his blood pounding in his ears. The first thing he noticed was the smell. There came the unmistakable odor of something like compost that was associated with none other than mako. Then, the sting. It was almost like breathing in the smoke from a chemical fire. Immediately, he began coughing into the mask, his lungs aching in protest to the foreign substance. He saw movement in the corner of his eyes and turned to see Cloud trying to pull the air mask from his face. The jerking movement of his shoulders indicated he too was choking on the mako-tainted oxygen.

Cloud's nose, mouth, throat, and lungs felt like they were on fire. He found himself gagging and hacking against the vile air that was forced into him and though he clawed at the mask, trying to get it away from him, it remained firmly attached where it was. He grew frantic, his elbows and knees hitting the glass surrounding him as he thrashed. It was all to no avail. He grew weak and tired, panting, which only made him take deeper breaths of the torturous vapor. He saw Zack, his arms bracing the sides of his tube as he coughed harshly though eerily silent, the sound suppressed by many layers of thick plastic and glass.

Hojo and his assistants stood watching in amusement, taking a few notes as Hojo spoke. "The initial distress of the specimens is to be expected. Soon, their bodies will become accustomed to the mako-enhanced air supply and they will be able to relax somewhat. After a certain amount of consumption they will begin to experience some analgesic effects."

Dr. Marsh was standing nearby, watching the monitors that displayed Zack's and Cloud's vitals. She turned her head only briefly to watch Zack and Cloud, not being able to stop herself from imagining how painful what they were experiencing would be. _It's not your problem_, she lectured herself. Sure, she felt terrible, but Hojo had been clear. Her job was on the line. Not just her job…if only it were just her job…

"I believe this method of treatment is going to be very successful," Hojo mused. "Nearly flawless…"

"And what are the potential drawbacks, professor?" Marsh couldn't help herself from asking.

"Well…of course this particular method involves a longer exposure to ensure the same amount of the product is absorbed. With the prolonged exposure there is the possibility that the specimens will experience hallucinations or some delusions. Poisoning is still a possibility of course," he explained.

"Probability of hallucinations or delusions?" the doctor questioned. Hojo thought for a moment.

"I'd say…thirty-five, maybe forty percent chance."

Marsh looked back to the cylinders. Both Zack's and Cloud's movements had slowed. Neither was thrashing. They floated helplessly, their eyes red from coughing which they continued to do every few moments or so.

Through the hazy mass of liquid, Zack stared at Dr. Marsh, hoping that perhaps she could read his mind when he said wordlessly _you are the only one who can help us now_. He got the feeling however that if she was going to be convinced it wasn't going to come from him. It was going to come from Cloud.

000

By the time they were to be released from the tubes, Zack and Cloud had been drifting in a strange semi-aware kind of consciousness. It was mind-numbing. Every thought seemed to come and go so slowly. They felt light and hazy but weighed down by the every present fire burning in their chests. Cloud wasn't sure which was worse now. The mako injections he and Zack had been given up till then were without a doubt excruciating but the pain had been so bad as to tear his senses away from him. Floating there now for hours at a time feeling each and every twinge of agony no matter how big or small was comparable to the torture he had experienced from being in that cell down in the D-Wing. With each breath he didn't think he was going to be able to take another and yet he continued to take breath after breath after breath. He wondered how Zack seemed to be dealing so well.

Zack floated with his eyes closed. He had pushed himself back into a memory. A memory of her. It was always her. Stretched out on his back on a blanket in the hills outside the city, he gazed up at the clouds sailing slowly by in the blue sky with his hands behind his head. Suddenly, a face popped into view and he found Aeris' fair face looking down at him, smiling.

"Did you see the bunny rabbit hopping around in the garden?" she asked, referring to the clouds and the various shapes they took on. He laughed lightly.

"No…but I do see a pretty lady in a pink and white dress," he replied with a bright smile. She giggled before sitting down next to him, facing him. He raised himself up on one elbow and watched as she arranged a small bunch of wildflowers she had collected. A soft breeze stirred some strands of her hair and on the wind there was the scent of sweet wild grasses.

"You ever think of moving out of the city?" he asked her casually. She shifted her eyes to his momentarily then returned her gaze back to the flowers in her hands.

"Sometimes," she said with a nod. "But I think I'd feel bad," she added then.

"Why's that?" he inquired curiously.

"I dunno. I suppose I'd feel like I was turning my back on the city, on everything I'd seen, all the people there."

Zack studied her for a moment before falling back onto his back, letting out a long exhale. "Yeah…s'pose you're right," he said softly.

"Besides," she spoke then, setting the flowers down and lying down on her stomach, resting her arms on Zack's chest and abdomen. "I got something pretty special in the city," she said happily.

"Oh really? And what would that be?" Zack responded with a smirk as he played with a few strands of her hair.

"Oh, I dunno..." she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "You."

He laughed. "I'm not confined to the city, ya know. I'm not gonna be in SOLDIER forever."

He watched her face grow more serious. "You sure about that?" she said barely above a whisper.

He was pulled out of his memory suddenly when the air mask over his mouth and nose detached from his face and he was forced to hold his breath while the water drained from the tube through the bottom. He fell to his knees under his own weight, realizing how weak he felt. He reached up and pushed some of his dripping hair out of his face. His body was shaking. He looked to where the lab assistants were in front of Cloud's cylinder, reaching in to take hold of his arms and pull him out of the tube, handing him over to the guards who half dragged him from the lab. They returned for him several minutes later and brought him back to the cell he and Cloud had shared. When they opened the door, Zack noticed immediately that the cots were gone. So were blankets and pillows and there were no clothes for them this time, leaving them to face the cold room in their wet boxer shorts. All that was left in the room were the thin mattresses that had sat on top of the cots.

Cloud was lying on the one mattress on his stomach. His ankles were shackled. Before Zack could even ask, one of the guards was placing a set on his own ankles. They let him go then, letting him fall to his hands and knees. "Thanks fellas," he said to them as they turned away. They left the room and the door closed behind them with a loud click. Zack pulled himself to his mattress pad were he collapsed on his side and rolled to his back, breathing heavily. "You okay?" he said with his eyes closed. He opened them when there was no answer from his friend. "Cloud?"

Cloud moved slightly, turning his head on the mattress to face Zack. "Are you?" he asked quietly, not answering him.

"Sure," Zack said with a short nod, staring at the ceiling. He listened to the sounds of Cloud breathing for a few minutes before he couldn't hold himself back from inquiry any longer. "What happened to you the past few nights, Spike?" he questioned tentatively. There was no answer. He turned his head toward Cloud. "Spikey?" He noticed then that Cloud had fallen asleep. He couldn't blame him. He knew it wouldn't be long until he would be falling asleep himself. Still, a feeling of unease sat at the pit of his stomach. Something had happened to Cloud and he needed to know what.

000

Cloud sighed, feeling himself coming out of the haze of sleep. He kept his eyes closed for a moment as he let himself adjust to the waking state. He winced then as a drop of something wet and warm hit his right cheek just under his eye. Slowly he opened his eyes. His heart seemed to stop and he felt his stomach plummet fast when he found himself looking up into the grinning face of one of the revenging guards. He was hovering over him, his one hand pressing down on his chest while in his other hand he was holding a bloody knife. "Zack!" he cried out then and turned his head to where his friend had been. He was lying in the center of the room. Cloud could barely make out his features from the blood that covered his face. A dark pool of red had gathered all around him. _Oh god_, Cloud thought as he stared in horror. The guard hovering over him started to laugh. Without thinking, Cloud brought his knee up into the guard's gut then pushed him off to the side before throwing himself forward toward the open door to the room. He scrambled on his hands and knees only to feel a hand close around his left ankle and pull him back. He fell to his stomach, gripping the doorframe. A shadow fell over him then and he looked up to see another of the guards. The one with the nightstick. He swung the stick fast against Cloud's knuckles, bringing from them a loud CRACK as he cried out and lost his grip on the door frame. He was dragged back to his mattress from the door that was shut by the guard with the nightstick. He looked back to see the guard with the soldering iron, holding onto his ankle. Back on the mattress pad he felt the sear of the iron on his back and he screamed out loudly. The bloody knife came back into view then as the iron was pulled back. The knife-wielding guard took a handful of his hair, gripping it hard and forcing his head upward. The nightstick guard stood in front of him while the third was straddling his waist. The knife-wielder leaned down, getting close to his ear.

"_Make a sound, and I'll skin you alive, little bitch_."

Cloud yelled out despite the warning, thrashing hard. "CLOUD!" he heard a familiar voice shout his name close by. His eyes snapped open and he found Zack kneeling over him, his hands gripping his shoulders. He didn't know why but he pushed himself up on the mattress fast, his back hitting the wall behind him as he pulled away from Zack. "Hey, Spikey, it's me!" Zack said, reaching out to him but then pulling back slow as Cloud jerked away. "Okay, it's okay," he said calmly, holding his hands up at chest height. He watched as Cloud panted, his whole body shaking and covered in sweat. As his breathing slowed he seemed to relax. He blinked a few times and shook his head.

_A dream_, he told himself. _It was a dream_. "Zack…" he breathed out uneasily. "I—I…" he struggled to form words.

"It's okay," Zack spoke softly, reaching out once more, slowly, placing a hand on Cloud's left shoulder and squeezing gently. "You were dreaming. Didn't seem like a very good one…"

"Yeah…" he muttered, wiping sweat from his face with his hand.

"You're bleeding," Zack pointed out then, motioning to his bullet wound where the stitching had come lose at the one end. Cloud nodded absent-mindedly, only having half-heard Zack. His dream still flashed in front of his eyes. He swore he could almost feel the iron burn on his back still. "Ya wanna tell me what the hell you were dreaming about?" Zack asked then, pulling Cloud's attention back to him. He shook his head definitively and then pushed past Zack, pulling himself off his mattress and heading for the bathroom. He leaned on the sink and gazed at his reflection, seeing for the first time since the attempted escape all the damage he had taken. The left side of his face had taken a good beating. It was splotched in colors of blue, purple, and black, especially around his eye were he saw the arch of stitches Hojo had applied a few days earlier. He followed the stepping stones of bruising to his shoulder, and down to his left side then coming to rest on a small black patch of charred flesh surrounded in a bright red ring of blisters. He didn't know whether to feel good or not about the fact he could feel no pain in the patch of skin. The wounds and bruises left from the cuffs on his wrists seemed to leave a virtual set of metal closed around them. A visual symbol of imprisonment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Zack move through the doorway, leaning back against the frame and crossing his arms over his chest.

Cloud pretended he wasn't standing there as he turned on one of the taps on the sink and let the water run. He splashed some water on his face first before using his wet hand to wash away the blood on his chest from the bullet wound. Zack had been lucky enough to get his stitched by the doctor. There was an obvious quality difference. He pulled on the loosened suture material gently trying to tighten the stitching.

"So…" Zack started uneasily. "You gonna tell me what happened now?" Cloud didn't answer at first. He kept his eyes down as he worked at the stitching.

"Did Reno come talk to you?" Cloud asked then, ignoring his question. Zack scoffed.

"No, why?"

"He said the guards we took down in our _failed _escape want revenge for all the shit they've been taking from their superiors," Cloud explained, looking at Zack through the mirror in front of him. Zack burst into laughter. "It's not funny, Zack!" Cloud fired at him and he stopped. "He was serious."

Zack studied Cloud's expression closely. He watched as he tried to hide something by averting his eyes. Zack lowered his arms then and took a step forward. "Did they come after you?" he questioned. Cloud let out an exaggerated exhale without looking up. "Is that what happened?" Zack pressed on, standing next to Cloud. "Is that what you were dreaming about?" He grabbed Cloud's left shoulder, turning him to face him. "Is that how you got _that_?" he asked, the anger evident in his tone as he motioned to the patch of burnt skin on the right side of his torso. Cloud pulled from Zack's grasp, leaning once again on the sink, his head down. "Cloud—" he began again though he was cut off when Cloud responded suddenly.

"YES! Alright? Yes," he nearly shouted as he pushed away from the sink. He looked at Zack standing somewhat dumbfounded before pounding his left fist into the wall in frustrated anger and then leaning his back against it as he gazed down at the floor. There was a moment of silence then before Zack spoke.

"What else did they do?" he questioned. Cloud was silent. "Cloud!"

"Nothing! They never had a chance. Marsh showed up before they could—" Cloud stopped his statement abruptly. An awful feeling arose from the pit of Zack's stomach.

"Before they could what?" he asked in a voice that came out quieter than he would have liked. He waited for Cloud's answer, feeling the tension gathering in his chest. Just as Cloud opened his mouth to speak, his expression turned hard and he shook his head, pushing away from the wall.

"Nothing," he insisted as he pushed past Zack and out of the bathroom, flopping down on his mattress with his hands resting on his stomach. Though he hadn't said it, Zack was pretty sure he knew what had happened…or rather what was going to happen before Dr. Marsh showed up. He had to sit himself down on the lid of the toilet seat as he felt a wave of sickness come over him. He put his face in his hands and took some deep breaths trying to calm the sudden rage he had boiling up in him. He cursed Hojo and the Shinra mansion and all its perverted staff. He cursed Dr. Marsh for standing by and allowing them to be treated as they were. He cursed Sephiroth for what he did in Nibelheim and he cursed himself…because he didn't know anymore what to do…


	12. Chapter 12

_Hey everyone! Here's a nice little something to celebrate Friday with lol. I have to say a special thank you again to all those of you who reviewed the last chapter. I am immensely happy that you all seem to be enjoying the story so far :D _

_Of course I am thankful as well to all of you who read but don't necessarily review. Though I don't hear from you I like to imagine you are enjoying the story as well haha! _

_Also, I'm completely awestruck to find this fan fic on several of your favorite lists and to find myself on some of your favorite author lists! Something tells me I should consider writing future fan fics after this one is through :D though I think if I do they will still be FFVII based just cause I'm obsessed with the FFVII characters XD_

_A note about this chapter. There were remarks on how sad Chapter XI was and well I must warn that it definitely won't be any happier in this one. In fact if you thought that one was sad and you didn't really enjoy that fact…well…you probably won't enjoy this chapter much haha! _

_But anyway, I'll let you decide for yourselves. Read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: ya'll know I don't own anything of FF lol _

Chapter XII

Food and vitamins were delivered to the room while Zack was still sitting in the bathroom, mulling over his growing helplessness. He took the pill cup from the lab assistant that had sought him out where he was and he swallowed back the vitamins before he could be handed any water. When the assistants had left, he pulled himself to a stand and shuffled his way out to his mattress where he plunked himself down and reached for the bowl of sustenance sitting on the floor. Cloud lay on his back on his mattress, his hands resting on his stomach while he stared at the ceiling. He made no indication he was interested in eating, not that Zack could really blame him. Besides the obvious reasons, they were fed so infrequently that by the time they were offered food they had gotten over their hunger. Still, they needed to take what they could get to suck whatever strength they could out of it.

"You should really try to eat, Spike," Zack spoke hesitantly. "Especially while the crap's still warm. You know it only gets worse the colder it gets," he remarked lightly. Cloud said nothing. He maintained his gaze at the ceiling tile. "Spikey—" he tried to persuade him some more.

"I'm not hungry," Cloud responded dully.

"I hear ya, kid, but starving yourself is only gonna make you feel worse."

"Do you really think it matters?" Cloud asked then. The question left Zack rather unsure of what to say. Cloud continued then. "It's not like they're gonna let us starve. They'd just force food intravenously."

Zack grew stern then. "Look, buddy, I know it sounds lame but you gotta try to stay positive." Cloud turned his head toward him, raising his one eyebrow.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" he asked.

"Sure, the Great Mope," Zack replied with a grin.

"Jerkface…" Cloud muttered under his breath.

"Hey, don't make me come over there and beat your ass. You'll get a bowl of slop in your hair."

"I'm petrified," Cloud responded as he sat up slow, holding his left side and wincing a little as he reached for the bowl next to his mattress. He swallowed down a few spoonfuls as Zack watched.

"Decide you were hungry now?" he asked in amusement.

"No. But I would rather eat it than have it in my hair," he said without looking up. Zack shook his head and chuckled.

"You gotta do something to cure yourself of your vanity obsession, Spikey."

"Yeah? Maybe you should do something to cure yourself of your speech obsession," Cloud retorted, smiling at his own remark.

"There's the sarcastic and humorous Cloud I love!"

Cloud responded with a gesture of appreciation with his one hand over his recognition, while bowing his head.

There was some silence then as they finished eating before Zack grew serious once again. "You know I'm gonna do everything I can to make sure no one hurts you, right Spikey?" Cloud stared down into the empty bowl in his lap. "I mean it."

"It's not your responsibility to look out for me, Zack," Cloud answered at last in a quiet tone.

"Well I'd like to see you try and stop me," he said with a laugh.

"I'm serious," Cloud responded, looking up at Zack. "If watching out for me means something could happen to you—"

"Nothing's happening to me," Zack interrupted.

"IF—"

"Cloud, we're friends right?" Zack asked then, cutting him off once again.

"Yeah." Cloud nodded.

"Well, as your friend, it IS my responsibility to look out for you. 'Cause that's what friends do."

"So…you want me to look out for you then in the same way, right?"

"No."

"But you just said—!"

"I'm older, it's different."

"What?! So suppose I had the chance to escape this place but it meant leaving you behind, you would want me to what? Leave?"

"Pretty much," Zack responded with a firm nod.

"What if I didn't?"

"I'd kick your ass."

"But you wouldn't leave me?"

"Nope."

Cloud sat staring at Zack with his mouth agape, ready to protest but not sure what to say. He crossed his arms then. "Well…that's stupid. I'm not leaving without you."

"You'll leave whenever the chance comes," Zack said sternly.

"You can't make me," Cloud argued.

"Hells yes, I can," Zack challenged.

"Why do you always have to be like this?"

"Like what?"

"Acting like it's your damn job to take care of me!"

"Well, someone has to!"

"I'm not a kid, Zack!"

Their argument had ascended to shouting volume. "Yes you are! You're what? Fifteen? That's nowhere near to being grown up, Cloud. Jesus, I'm don't even think of myself as grown up." There was a stare-down then before Cloud spoke, his voice returned to normal volume.

"That still doesn't mean you should feel responsible for me," Cloud pointed out.

"You're wrong. I have to be," Zack uttered quietly.

"But, why?"

"Because it's my fault you're in this place!" he announced angrily.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I shouldn't have told you to stay in the reactor and take on Sephiroth. I should have told you to leave. It was my own stupidity and weakness that got you here," he explained in frustration.

"Do you realize how dumb that sounds?" Cloud asked then. He was met with a confused expression from his friend. "Do you really think I would have listened if you told me to leave?" Zack didn't know what to say. "It was my decision to take on Sephiroth, Zack. And why the hell shouldn't I have? He hurt the only people in my life I care about. He killed my mother. He may have killed Tifa…could have killed you. So screw you if you think you can take that credit. It was under my own will that I gave that son of a bitch what he deserved!"

They sat in silence for a few moments, both looking down. "You're right," Zack spoke then. "You're right. I'm sorry." Cloud looked up at him. "But I'm not going to stop looking out for you. It's what I do. And it's all I have."

After another brief silence, Cloud let out a long exhale and lay himself back down on his mattress. "I'm still not leaving without you," he said in a low voice. Zack shook his head in annoyance as he broke the very end of the handle on the plastic spoon in front of him. He placed it in the scooped part and bent the spoon back, aiming at Cloud and letting the piece of plastic fly across the short span of the room and hit him in the side of the face. "OW!" Cloud exclaimed as he rubbed his cheek.

"Yeah, there's plenty more where that came from," Zack warned, pointing the spoon at him. They threw insults back and forth then till they heard the sound of the keypad outside the room. The assistants had returned to collect their bowls and spoons. They did so quietly and then left Zack and Cloud alone. It wasn't long after that Cloud fell asleep resting on his stomach with his head turned toward Zack while he rambled off some story of his. He sometimes wondered if Zack ever put himself to sleep while talking.

000

The hours ran into the night and Cloud was pulled from his light sleep when he felt the mattress move as extra weight was put on it. He felt something brush up against his one leg. He exhaled heavily. "What, Zack?" he mumbled sleepily. There was no response. Something didn't seem right. "Zack?" he questioned uneasily, opening his eyes a little.

"_You wish_," came a whispered response close to his ear. Cloud's senses snapped awake then and he turned over fast and looked up at the guard that was hovering over him. _No, I'm dreaming_, he told himself. He turned to where Zack lay to see him sound asleep on his back, another of the guards kneeling down with something in his hand. Cloud opened his mouth to call out to him and alert him but a hand clapped over his mouth then. The guard leaning over him put a finger to his mouth. "_Shhh_," he shushed him.

_Screw this!_ Cloud thought as he grabbed the guard's wrist and twisted it hard before then punching his sternum, sending him stumbling back on the mattress. "ZACK! Wake up!" he shouted as he sat up fast. Zack's eyes snapped open and it took only a second for him to spring into action. He knocked whatever the guard was holding over him out of his hand and delivered a hard punch to his face, sending him to the floor.

An elbow struck Cloud's left cheek and then a fist drove into his side, under his ribs. The guard tried to push him down then but he managed to struggle against him and push him back. He turned for the wall at his head, rising to his knees and trying to get to his feet. Would have been so much easier without the shackles around his ankles. The guard was back on him before he could come to a stand, pulling him back to his knees and then gripping a fistful of his hair. He pulled Cloud's head back and then threw it forward into the wall where it connected with his right brow bone. He saw nothing but a haze of color for the first few seconds after when his senses were knocked out of him. The guard pulled him back from the wall, still holding his head by his hair and dragged him back, facing him toward Zack who was fighting off the other two guards, and doing a pretty good job. The one was kneeling over on the floor holding his nose as it bled out into his hands while the other Zack had pinned to his mattress and was delivering repeated hits to his face.

As Cloud felt the dizziness dissipate in his head he realized then he was in the hold of the guard behind him. He reached a hand up to try and pry the guard's fingers from where they were gripping his hair. The guard reached for something in his pocket then. Cloud didn't see it but knew when it was held against his neck that it was a switchblade. The guard whistled loud to get Zack's attention. Zack's head turned their way. He was gripping the guard beneath him by his shirt and had his fist pulled back ready for another hit.

"You finished?" the guard behind Cloud asked Zack whose jaw pulsed as he clamped it in anger. His eyes traveled back and forth between the guard's eyes and Cloud's. "No?" the guard questioned when Zack maintained his stance. Cloud could feel the knife blade dig into the flesh of his neck and he let out a startled cry when he felt it move an inch or so, slicing through a few layers of tissue and releasing a line of blood.

"Alright!" Zack shouted, as he let go of the guard below him.

"Back up," the knife-wielding guard commanded. Zack complied by sliding himself back away from the guard a few feet.

"Zack, don't!" Cloud tried to protest and the knife wielder jerked his head by his hair painfully.

"I wouldn't be saying anything, little bitch. It's only gonna make things more unpleasant for you later when we're done with your friend." The guard with the busted nose moved behind Zack, lowering to one knee and taking his arms, pulling them back behind him. The knife wielder continued to speak to Cloud. "You get to watch as my two buddies here beat the shit out of him and afterward he can watch while we make you scream and beg for your mommy," he said with eerie amusement.

"Fucking prick!" Zack fired at him. The guard he had been beating into the floor a few moments before had finally dragged himself up and he threw a hard hit into the left side of Zack's face, splitting open his lower lip. More hits followed. Many more.

_This isn't a dream_, Cloud thought as he watched helplessly, his hair being gripped so hard he thought it was going to tear away from his scalp any second and the blade of the knife pressing into the hollow of his throat, making it difficult to breathe. He wanted to scream as he squeezed his eyes shut and listened to the sounds of the other two guards beating Zack. Tears started to push there way from the corners of his eyes.

There came a brief pause in the beating and Zack looked down at the tile in front of him where he was holding himself shakily on his hands and knees. He took a painful breath and a bit of bloody saliva ran from his mouth to the floor to join the blood drops falling with gravity from his face. One of the guards grabbed his hair and pulled him back on his knees. The other was crouched in front of him with something. He held it up for Zack to see. "Recognize this, asshole?" he asked. Zack squinted to focus on the object. It was one of the bolts he had unscrewed from the cots before their escape attempt. Suddenly, the guard jammed the bolt into the bullet wound in Zack's chest, tearing through the stitches and deep into the tissue. Zack cried out loudly and then ground his teeth together as the bolt was twisted and pushed deeper into his skin. He felt his own tears trailing down his cheeks then and he looked past the guard to where Cloud was. The third guard was still gripping his hair and holding the knife to his neck which had made several small cuts over the time it had been held there. The guard released his hair then as he was whispering something into Cloud's ear. Zack saw the anxiety in Cloud's tear-filled eyes as the guard reached down into the front of his boxer shorts.

Zack tore his eyes away and averted them downwards where he saw something sticking out of the top of the right boot belonging to the guard crouched in front of him. He hoped to God it was what he thought it was. He acted fast, throwing his elbow back into the gut of the guard behind him who released his hair. He reached forward then and grabbed at the other's boot, pulling a combat knife out of its hiding spot. _Yes!_ he thought triumphantly as in one fast stroke he cut into the hamstring at the back of the guard's leg. Zack turned then back to the other one as he was lunging himself at Zack and plunged the knife into his side, under his ribs, bringing forth a loud cry from him before he fell back against the wall.

Zack heard a small cry then from Cloud. He brought himself to a stand and turned to see the switch-blade holding guard still gripping onto Cloud tightly but he was holding his head back with his one hand and had the blade pointing directly into the spot where his jugular vein was. "You're just dying to see me hurt your little friend, aren't you?" the guard questioned behind a dark smile. Zack said nothing. He stared hard at the guard, gripping the knife in his hand firmly. "Drop it," the guard demanded. When Zack didn't comply he pushed the tip of the blade into Cloud's neck, breaking through his pale skin once again, bringing forth a large bead of dark red that ran vertically down his neck. "You wanna see his blood cover this room? _Drop it, NOW_!" Zack looked down at the knife in his hand. He let out a steady breath and loosened his grip on the handle, flipping it in his hand so he was holding onto the blade between his thumb and his fore and middle fingers. He could just barely make out what the guard said in a low voice to Cloud then. "_I'm gonna rip you apart from the inside, little bitch_."

Faster than anyone could blink, Zack flung his arm back and pitched the knife across the room where it embedded itself square between the eyes of the guard. Cloud felt the switchblade at his neck dig in deeper and he was pulled backwards with the guard as he fell against the wall. The guard's arms went limp then and Cloud rolled over, looking down at the guard whose eyes were wide and unmoving as a line of blood tricked from where the combat knife was lodged in his skull. Cloud looked down at him in shock. He felt himself start shaking all over. Zack's arms wrapped around him then, pulling him back from the guard's dead body and to the back wall. He knelt in front of him, grasping his head in his hands. "Cloud, you okay?" he asked, his own voice shaking as he ran his thumb over the last wound inflicted on Cloud's neck. Relief came over him when he saw that the blade hadn't gone deep enough to cause any serious damage. Cloud wasn't looking at him. His eyes were still on the dead guard. "Look at me, Cloud!" he demanded as he shook him a little. Cloud's eyes returned to him then, a few tears adding to the tracks that had been made by the ones before them on his cheeks. Zack knew he was really in shock. He turned then to look behind him. The guard he had sliced in the back of the leg was gone. He had left a trail of blood behind him out the door. He knew that meant more guards would be coming. He felt a bit of panic then as he crawled to the one he'd stabbed in the side, now lying unconscious on his mattress, and searched his pockets. "Shit!" he cursed when he came up with nothing then moved over to the dead guard and searched him as well. His heart leapt when his fingers touched a set of keys. He looked over the small ring of keys. They all seemed too big. He sat down and reached forward trying to find one that fit the lock on the shackles around his ankles. No luck. He threw the keys across the room angrily. "FUCK!"

"What are we gonna do, Zack?" Cloud asked despairingly from where he sat. "They're gonna kill us for this." Zack lowered his head. He had no ideas. Nothing. Any minute a hoard of guards would be rushing in and they were going to flip out over what had happened.

Movement drew his attention to the doorway then and he looked up to see Dr. Marsh standing there in utter shock, a look of horror on her face. _Last chance_, Zack thought as he pushed himself to his feet fast and moved toward the doctor. "Doc, listen to me, you have to help us—"

"I got a call that medical attention was needed. I thought…" she started in a quiet voice but trailed off as she stared at the wide-eyed guard lying on Cloud's mattress. Zack grabbed her shoulders and turned her away.

"Doc, you need to listen. You have to get us out of here," he spoke evenly as he kept his eyes locked on hers. "We're gonna die in here, or worse. _Please_."

The doctor just stared at him and said nothing. There was the sound of thudding footsteps headed down the hall toward the room. Zack let go of the doctor's shoulders then and stepped back from her before lowering himself to his knees and placing his hands behind his head to await the onslaught.

There was a brief moment of eerie silence when the guards stared upon their comrades. Then the angry shouting began and a new round of beating. The guards took their nightsticks to Zack and Cloud. Over the shouting and the ringing in his ears, Zack thought he could hear Dr. Marsh's voice. Hands grabbed onto his arms then and started dragging him towards the doorway. He saw Cloud on his side covering his head with his arms as two guards brought their nightsticks down on him. In the hall, the hands let go of him and his body began taking kicks. What seemed to go on forever probably only lasted a few minutes. The hits stopped abruptly and there was silence in the hall, except for the sounds of footsteps. Inside the cell the guards were still beating on Cloud. That stopped shortly and Zack could hear someone shouting. He was lying on his stomach with his head turned toward the wall in the hallway. He hurt too much to try and see what was going on. He recognized the voice after a few moments. It was Hojo's angry voice. He wasn't really sure what he was shouting but the guards began to disperse then, heading away down the hall. It grew quieter after a few minutes but it was broken by a loud cry coming from Cloud, followed by sobbing. Zack forced his head to turn back toward the cell where through his bleary eyes he could just barely make out the doctor as she finished turning Cloud over onto his back. He gripped his side in one hand and clutched Marsh's arm with his other one. She talked to him softly, pushing some of his hair matted in blood and sweat from his eyes. She turned her head toward Zack then. He wished he could make out her expression.

He was finding it hard to breathe. He turned himself slowly onto his side, the motion of which started him coughing. He felt like he was choking on something. He realized why that was when he sputtered blood out onto the floor. He felt himself sinking into the floor. He welcomed it. He prayed for the painlessness of the unconscious world, hoping that when he woke up the whole nightmare would be over and he'd be back in Midgar, back with Aeris.

Disappointment edging on despair was what Zack was met with when he regained consciousness several hours later. _Still in hell_, he thought as the scent of sterilization invaded him. He knew before he even opened his eyes that he was in the med sector. He never thought he would long for the smoggy smell of the Midgar streets. He inhaled deep, stopping suddenly as hot strikes of pain went through his ribs. "Ow," he uttered then felt the presence of someone nearby. He knew who it was. "What's up, doc?" he asked in a rough strained voice.

"Zack," she said his name almost urgently. "Can you open your eyes?"

"Depends. You gonna blind me with that damn penlight of yours if I do?"

She looked down at her hand which had instinctively reached for the penlight in her pocket. She dropped it back in her pocket and sighed. "I suppose not," she answered finally. Zack opened his eyes slow. The doctor stood next to his bed. She looked drained, like she hadn't slept in days.

"How long have I been out?" Zack asked then.

"About twelve hours. You were anesthetized for surgery to repair some internal damages."

"Psh…that bad eh?"

"I don't know who was worse. You or Cloud. You had three broken ribs, another 4 were cracked; broken nose and some small hairline orbital fractures. Oh, and a broken jaw. I know it's going to be near impossible for you but you're going to have to try not to talk much for a little while."

"And Cloud?" Zack questioned, not really caring about his own injuries.

"Most of the ribs on his left side were broken, so was his left collar bone and a few of his fingers and he had two fractured lower vertebrae. You both had some minor organ damage and internal bleeding."

"Where is he?" Zack asked then after a moment of silence.

"Still in surgery. Should be out soon. You should try to sleep."

"Sure. Whatever," he replied quietly, his thoughts focused on Cloud and everything that had happened. The doctor moved for the door, pausing as she took the handle in her hand. She turned back to Zack.

"Hojo has banned all guards from this level," she said. Zack's eyes shifted to her. "What happened…it won't happen again."

Zack scoffed. "Gee, thanks doc, you're a real savior," he muttered sarcastically.

He couldn't see it but the guilt was suffocating her. She wanted so badly to be able to march he and Cloud out of that place and to someplace safe.

"I'm going to go see if Cloud's surgery is finished," she said finally, a weak half smile on her face as she opened the door to head out. Zack said nothing. He just wanted her to leave. He wasn't sure if he had ever hated someone as much as he hated Marsh at that moment in time…


	13. Chapter 13

_HOLY NOODLES!!_ _Okay so first of all, I am SO SORRY that it's taken nearly TWO weeks for me to update. It's been an insane couple weeks filled with many sleepless nights and lots of coffee. Last week I had a kabillion assignments to get done for school and then I had to work all weekend. This has been the last week of school for me (last exam is tomorrow thank God) so I promise I will be back to my regular update times again. Actually i have about a third of Chapter 14 written already so you probably won't have to wait very long at all lol. Secondly, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO REVIEWED! You guys are incredible and keep me motivated to keep writing. I absolutely love getting your comments and/or suggestions. NOW ya'll have waited long enough I think! ON TO THE CHAPTER! :D_

_Disclaimer: final fantasy is square enix's love child, not mine. dang. _

Chapter XIII

Tifa sighed, her shoulders sagging a little as she knelt on the earth that had just barely grown a thin layer of grass, still showing patches of the dirt below

Tifa sighed, her shoulders sagging a little as she knelt on the earth that had just barely grown a thin layer of grass, still showing patches of the dirt below. She stared at the letters carved into the grain of the plain white-washed wood in front of her. She hesitated before reaching out and touching the lettering. "After everything…" she whispered to herself, "…this is all that's left?" There was something dark and hollow about the only representation of a person being two pieces of wood nailed together and staked into the ground. Yet, that's all there was left of the boy she knew since she could remember, a plain white cross and a name that probably meant nothing to no one but her. "Goddamnit, Cloud…" she cursed under her breath as she fought back the tears. She had tried so hard the past 5 months to deny what seemed the only truth, that Cloud Strife was gone forever. She found her heart fighting her head daily and just as she thought she had accepted he wasn't coming back, some small but powerful part of her refused to believe it and scolded her for even thinking of giving up on him. Still, if he wasn't dead, where was he? Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw a shadow fall upon the cross in front of her. She turned fast to see a girl standing a few feet away.

"Sorry," she spoke softly. She was holding a small bunch of yellow and white flowers. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"Are you here for Cloud?" Tifa asked, unable to hide the hope in her voice that she wasn't the only person to come see his 'resting place.'

"No…" the girl answered uneasily. "I'm here for…" she trailed off as she motioned with her head toward Zack's grave. It rested next to Cloud's though the display was much more impressive. A rather expensive headstone marked his plot and it was surrounded in flowers and gifts. Many of the flowers were healthy and vibrant, indicating that even now, months later, people were still visiting regularly.

"Oh. Zack," Tifa said sullenly as she returned her gaze forward.

"Did you know Zack?" the girl inquired then stepping up next to Tifa.

"Not really. We met a few days before uh…before—"

"Oh," the girl said quietly in understanding. Tifa nodded. There was a bit of an awkward silence then before the girl spoke up again. "I'm Aeris," she introduced herself, lowering to the ground next to Tifa who gave a small smile.

"Tifa."

"I'm really sorry about Cloud," Aeris said sympathetically. "I wish I could have met him. Zack talked about him a lot. He sounded like a really great person."

Tifa stared at her in awe. "Really?"

"Yeah," she laughed. "The way he talked about him sometimes, I swore Cloud was his younger brother."

Tifa smiled happily at the thought of Cloud having found at least one other person that cared about him. She grew serious again after a moment. "I'm sorry about Zack. Were you his girlfriend?"

Aeris stared into the distance and smiled. "I don't know. I…like to think so," she said with a slight blush.

"You seem to be taking his death really well," Tifa pointed out then.

"Oh, Zack's not dead," Aeris replied quickly and surely. Tifa stared at her hard. "I know that sounds like denial but it's true. Don't ask me how I know. I just…_know_."

"I think I know how you feel."

"Hm?"

"That's pretty much how I've felt about Cloud. There's just something…"

"Not right," Aeris finished her thought.

"Yeah," Tifa agreed with a nod. "The only problem is…if they are alive then—"

"Where are they?"

"Right."

"That's what keeps me from sleeping. I don't know that anyone will understand this but you, Tifa, since you seem to feel the same as I do. In the depth of my soul I feel something very bad has happened…"

Tifa watched Aeris as her eyes travelled along the horizon in the distance, almost like she was trying to see through time. There was something very mystical about her. Her stomach ached as she pondered over what Aeris had just said. She felt a sickness rising in her because as much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew after Aeris had said it that it had to be true.

000

Zack awoke slowly to the feeling of weightlessness and a comfortable warmth that reminded him of the summer days in Midgar when he would lie on the roof of the training centre in the afternoon, soaking up the sun. He knew where he was but couldn't remember being taken there. _I must have been drugged_, he realized. He had no idea how much time had passed. Days, weeks, months? _God, I hope it hasn't been that long_. He opened his eyes to let in the healing liquid that cradled him. Though his vision was hazy, he could make out two of the lab assistants cleaning some sort of medical instruments at the operating table in the centre of the room. At first he thought one of them was new but after a moment of observation he felt his heart sink as he knew he had been unconscious for long time. The lab ass Lyle was the one he didn't recognize at first. This was because his face was now covered in a beard and mustache. It had probably taken a good month or so to fill that baby in. He shifted his gaze to the left then, to where the other cylinder was. Empty. Confusion and dread hit him like a ton of bricks when he looked upon the hollow tube. _Where the hell is Cloud?_ he questioned within his racing mind. He was bombarded then with a hundred 'what ifs?' that scared the hell out of him. He pounded on the glass with his fist to get the lab asses' attention. They looked up at him, a little startled then turned back to what they were doing.

"Screw you if you think you can ignore me bastards!" he spoke into his air mask. He began an assault on the tube, kicking and punching it with as much force as the liquid around him allowed. One of the assistants departed then, leaving the room. The other did his best to ignore Zack, turning his back to him. He stopped then, resting a bit as he heaved in lungfulls of air. A few minutes after the assistant had departed he returned with Hojo who strolled over to him nonchalantly.

"Z1," he spoke at last, "I was beginning to think you'd never wake. We've had to continue the project without you. But lucky for you I believe you shall be able to catch up."

_Whatever you fucking creep just get me out of here so I can tell you off_, Zack thought to himself as he listened to the professor. He watched Hojo enter a code on the control panel next to the tube and Zack was quick to remember to hold his breath a few seconds before the air mask detached from him.

As his feet touched the grate below him he suddenly felt weak, struggling to keep himself standing. "Where's Cloud, old man?" he questioned as soon as he had the chance.

"I must say, you and C4 certainly have a way of stirring up trouble for yourselves," Hojo remarked as he walked over to the operating table to take a look at the tools the assistants had been cleaning. "You have both caused great set-backs in this project."

"Yeah?" Zack answered in mock surprise. "Well that's probably because we don't give a fuck about your goddamn project!" Hojo chuckled. "You're not gonna get away with what you're doing, Hojo. Someone will figure it out eventually and you'll be locked up in some nuthouse where you belong." Hojo stared at him hard. An eerie smile crept across his face as he moved toward Zack. He stopped directly in front of the glass of his tube.

"Do you honestly think no one knows, Z1?" he asked in a low tone. Zack's brow furrowed and he clamped his jaw in anger. "People know. Who do you think funds my work? The president of Shinra of course. You see, Z1, at any one moment in time, at least a hundred people know what my work involves and accept it—encourage it! Because they see the value in it. No one is going to help you, Z1. You and C4 have been chosen for one of the greatest experimentations of all time. You're mine. Products of Shinra, cultivated by me."

Zack's stood motionless except for the mild trembling from his weakness. His lips were parted and his vocal cords prepared to speak but he had nothing to say. He was too busy arguing with his rationality. _He's lying_, he thought. _No way that many people know and don't do anything about it. Sure about that? Think of how many people you've run into down here already who've done nothing. That's ridiculous! No, I refuse to believe it…_

Zack turned his gaze from Hojo as he fought internally with his thoughts. His eyes fell upon the empty cylinder once again. "Where is he?" he asked once again, his tone icy and filled with the tension he had building in his muscles as he wished for the glass around him to disappear so he could reach out and choke the life out of the madman in front of him.

"C4 is undergoing testing right now," Hojo answered simply. Zack looked back at him fast.

"What testing?"

"Don't worry, Z1, you'll have your chance to partake tomorrow," Hojo assured him. "Now, are you going to allow yourself to be escorted to your room or do you need to be sedated?"

Zack seriously debated agreeing to comply and then the second he was out unleash his building anger and make a break for escape but he was reminded by that annoying inner voice that it would be a dumb move. He wasn't leaving without Cloud and he had no idea where he was. By the time he found him it'd be too late. He exhaled in defeat and muttered a quiet "Fine."

Hojo had one of the assistants fetch some burly goonish looking guy from outside the lab. He remembered then what Dr. Marsh had said about all the guards being banned from that level. He guessed that Hojo had hired some 'enforcers' instead. He wondered if that was going to be much better. Didn't matter what kind of contract or rulebook a person worked under. If they wanted to be a prick they were going to be. It was going to take all of Zack's restraint but he knew he had to try his hardest not to piss off the wrong people.

Zack walked along next to the goon who easily outmatched him in height and weight. His large hand gripped Zack's upper arm as he was led down a long hall. Zack realized they weren't headed back to the cell he and Cloud had shared since they were first brought there. He was led to a room similar though. There was nothing in it at all. Four walls, a ceiling, a floor and a bathroom 'nook.' He was, however, given clothing again. Same as before. Black pants, black t-shirt. He was left alone and watched the door shut with a click before dressing himself and moving to the back wall where he sat himself down on the floor. He brought a hand to his face, squeezing the spot of his nose between his eyes as he felt a headache starting up. He shut his eyes tight and took some steady breathes.

"I can't believe this is happening," he spoke to himself. He couldn't help thinking about _her_ then. He could never help it. Her beautiful face would enter his mind and take over. He wondered how long it'd been since he saw her. He had no concept of time anymore. He had no idea what day of the week, or what time of day it was. He didn't even know what month it was. Every day he and Cloud had spent there had felt like a year and every day he tried to assure himself that Aeris wouldn't forget about him. If only he could believe _that_.

000

When the door to the room opened again and Cloud entered Zack pushed himself up fast from the floor.

"Zack!" Cloud spoke in surprise, his expression lighting up. He didn't get a chance to say anything else before Zack grabbed him for a tight hug.

"Spikey, you alright?!" Zack asked as he gripped Cloud tightly.

"I'm fine…unless you don't let go of me, then I might pass out from not being able to breathe," he struggled to answer while in Zack's vice grip.

"Oh yeah, sorry," Zack said, letting Cloud go and stepping back. He looked down at his chest, feeling slightly damp. He then realized Cloud was pretty much covered in sweat. "Geeze, buddy, what have you been doing?" he questioned then.

"Running," Cloud answered as he moved past Zack to sit down against the back wall of the room. Sitting there, Zack realized how tired Cloud looked. It reminded him of what the new recruits looked like after a hard training session at the academy.

"Running?" Zack asked, somewhat confused. "Why?"

Cloud shrugged. "To see how long you can handle feeling like your lungs and heart are gonna explode from your chest maybe? Or how long till your legs refuse to go any farther and leave you to fall face-first on a moving treadmill? Who knows?"

Zack took a spot on the floor next to Cloud. His eyes fell to Cloud's arm before he took his wrist and turned his hand palm up so he could see his inner elbow. "Blood testing?" Zack questioned, seeing the bruising and pinpoint blood spots that dotted the area. Cloud nodded.

"Blood testing. Whip injections," he answered slowly.

"Whip injections? What the hell is Whip?"

"It's that drug they gave us when we sparred with the Turks before. Remember?" Zack nodded, remembering how he had beat the shit out of Reno and how much he had enjoyed it. "Well that's what they're calling it I guess."

"Jesus…" Zack muttered under his breath as he let go of Cloud's wrist. "How long have I been out of the loop?"

"I'm not sure…three or four days. Hojo used some kind of drug to wake us up but it didn't work on you. He thought whatever they used to put us into a coma so they could fix us had given you brain damage or something…" Cloud explained uneasily.

Zack shook his head as he thought about it. _Well if we survive revenging guards and being loaded with mako it's good to know we still have a chance to check out from a bad drug reaction _he thought sarcastically.

"I thought maybe you weren't waking up because of what the guards did…" Cloud added then.

Zack was about to make a remark about how there was no way some weak-ass Shinra pussies were going to bring him down but restrained himself when he took note of Cloud's expression. It was marked with the pain of memory. Until then Zack hadn't thought about what had happened. Sure, he had been scared at the time but he wasn't about to let himself be mentally affected by it. He felt a wave of dread come over him at the realization that Cloud had been. He felt worse when he thought about what the past few days must have been like for him, going through everything alone, sitting there in that empty room at night by himself. He knew he should talk to Cloud about it but he didn't really know how. As much as he loved to talk, when it came to matters of psychology he drew a blank. He could do a lot to keep a person from getting physically injured but how was he supposed to protect someone from their thoughts and memories? Even he couldn't do that, not even for himself.

Almost as if Cloud could read his thoughts he turned to him and said in a voice full of the shame that Zack wished more than anything he could tear out of his friend, "How do you let it all go?"

"I…" Zack struggled for an answer. It was like digging through a nine-foot haystack for that damned needle. He aimed for a shot in the dark. "I think that if I didn't…I think it would kill me." Unbelievably, it felt like truth. He hesitated a moment before daring to ask "Is there anything you wanna talk about, Spike?"

Cloud was silent, staring at his hands. Zack was sure he would shake his head any second so he was surprised when he actually spoke. "I've never seen anyone die before," he uttered barely audible.

"Oh," Zack replied softly. He thought of the guard then with the combat knife lodged in his forehead. It wasn't the first person Zack had ever killed. He wasn't actually sure how many he had. He knew that was something that probably should bother him. He had many friends in SOLDIER who had either dropped out of the program because they couldn't deal with the things they did, or needed to see a counselor regularly. It was just another of those things in life he didn't think about. He liked to imagine they were all bad people anyway. In the case of the guard, he had proven himself quite willingly to be deserving of what he got. Outside of the experience of killing people himself he had seen many others die at the hands of others. It seemed almost crazy that Cloud hadn't but it was true. He didn't even really seen Sephiroth die.

"What were you thinking about as you threw the knife?" Cloud asked then, looking up at him. Zack stared at the faintly glowing mako rings surrounded by the blue of his irises.

"Nothing," Zack answered. Cloud returned his gaze downward. "Well..." Zack thought about it again. "There was a split second where I thought how much it would suck if I missed and gave you a haircut instead," he said through a wide smile. He saw a small smile form on Cloud's face. "Though maybe I should have," he added, reaching out to ruffle the blond hair at the side of Cloud's head that had been growing out.

"Hey!" Cloud exclaimed as he pulled away, leaning to the side. "Yours ain't much better," he pointed out. Zack ran a hand through his own hair. Cloud was right. They both could have used a haircut.

They were silent then for a few moments, the humor fading away. Cloud had got Zack thinking, which he had always tried not to do. "Hey, Spikey," he spoke quietly. Cloud looked at him. "I haven't done anything to you, ya know…mentally, by killing that guard, have I?" He was afraid of what Cloud's answer would be. It terrified him to think he could be responsible for causing someone he cared about more anguish.

"No," Cloud responded. Zack let out an inner sigh of relief. "That's not what bothers me." Zack sensed something else coming. "What bothers me is that I was _happy_ you killed him."

"Cloud, look at me," Zack commanded. Reluctantly, Cloud complied. "Don't you dare feel bad about yourself for this. That motherfucker got what he deserved and that's why you were happy. You had every right to be. No way in hell was I gonna sit back and let him—" he stopped himself then. Cloud's eyes dropped, not needing Zack to finish to know what he was going to say. Zack exhaled in frustration, gazing up at the ceiling.

"Yeah," Cloud said softly. "I wouldn't have either."

The tension was broken by the door to the room opening and food being brought in. Cloud ate silently while Zack stared at the bowl in his lap, knowing there was no way he was going to be able to eat. _This is exactly why I let go of things…_he thought to himself sadly.

000

A couple hours later, two of the newly hired goons came to collect Zack and Cloud and bring them to the lab where they were put back into the glass tubes and underwent another round of mako. Neither was exactly sure how long they were exposed to the mako. They were in their cylinders until a bleeping sound was heard from near by and shortly after the assistants came and released them before they were dragged off back to their cell, weak, exhausted, and in pain. There they lay shivering and wet on the cold tile of the floor, too tired to redress themselves before passing out. Really, redressing at that time would prove pointless as Zack would soon realize the routine Cloud must have been put through the past few days while he himself was still out of it. No sooner had they been brought back to the cell it seemed than they were woken up and forced to consume a familiar paper cup full of pills and handed a bowl of slop directly after. Following that, they were given an hour before being brought back to the lab where blood samples were taken and they were put back into the tubes for more mako.

Zack wondered how in the hell Cloud hadn't gone nuts yet. Then again, he realized he was probably too tired to go nuts. _I sure as hell am_, Zack thought. Instead of being taken back to the cell after that round of mako, however, they were brought to a room that was empty except for four treadmills in the centre of the room and a bench. The treadmills were facing the wall to the right which had a large darkened window cut into it. Against the left wall was the bench and on the back wall straight ahead were various monitors. Zack stared around in wonderment as he was led to the bench at the left. He slumped down next to Cloud who pretty much knew what to expect. One of the lab assistants handed a liter bottle of water to each of them. Cloud immediately twisted the cap off to begin drinking. One of the assistants asked Zack his shoe size then. He returned shortly with a pair of running shoes in his size. A familiar face entered the room then. Zack rolled his eyes in irritation as Dr Marsh came toward them.

"Good afternoon," she greeted them though neither of them said anything. Cloud gave a short nod though. The doctor sat on the bench next to him, opening the case she had brought in with her. Cloud held his arm out awaiting her to tie it off before she took a prepared syringe from her case and pulled the plastic cap off it. She tapped the side of the syringe and squeezed a bit of the liquid out before moving to insert it into Cloud's arm. When she was finished she moved over to sit next to Zack. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she began tying his arm off.

"Captive," he said sharply and she fumbled a little trying to get the second prepared syringe from her case. She said nothing as she pumped what Zack assumed to be the 'Whip' drug into his vein. He glanced over at Cloud who stared absent-mindedly forwards, taking mouthfuls of the water from the bottle he had been handed.

"You should start working on that," Marsh said then, motioning to his untouched bottle. She returned the syringes to her case and clipped it closed before walking over to the monitors in the room.

"Make me," Zack muttered quietly. He caught Cloud's gaze and when he looked at him Cloud made a motion with his head to one of the goons standing at the door who was glaring at Zack.

"He will," Cloud said as he raised his half empty bottle to his mouth again. Zack looked back skeptically at Cloud who nodded in suggestion that he had already learned the hard way. Sighing, Zack twisted the cap off the bottle and started drinking. After he had consumed half he was about to cap the bottle closed when Cloud spoke again. "You have to drink all of it."

"Wha?" Zack looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Cloud assured him. Zack stared at the water in the bottle feeling full already. As he watched Cloud finish his own bottle he wondered where in the hell he had managed to put all that liquid.

Marsh turned to Cloud then with something in her hands. Cloud pulled his shirt off, setting it on the bench and Marsh started to stick what Zack guessed were sensors onto his skin. They were white and circular, about two inches in diameter. She placed one on either side of his head over his temples, one on each side of his neck just under his jaw line, another on his chest where his heart presumably was, one where Zack imagined the diaphragm would be and another two on Cloud's back. She picked up another set of sensors and turned to Zack. "Shirt off please," she directed. He exhaled in a huff before removing his shirt. He waited impatiently as she started attaching the white circles. As she leaned over him to place the two on his back he caught the scent of her hair. Immediately he was hit with images of Aeris. It was a scent he easily could have curled up in and never let go. He avoided the doctor's gaze as she straightened herself. He forced himself to finish the water he had left in his bottle. His stomach felt stretched to the max. He reached for the shoes that had been set down at his feet when he saw Cloud lacing his on.

"They really expect us to run after just drinking an ocean?" Zack scoffed to his friend as he bent over to put the runners on.

"Of course not," Cloud responded. Zack looked at him and he smiled "We get 15 minutes to sit and stare at the floor. _Then_ they expect us to run after drinking an ocean."

"You gotta be flippin' kidding…"

He wasn't kidding. Marsh kept an eye on her watch and after 15 minutes she motioned for Cloud and Zack to stand up and get onto the two treadmills she had just prepared.

"Fuck me…" Zack said under his breath as he pulled himself off the bench. He could feel the water swish in his stomach with the movement. He stepped up onto the treadmill in front of him, next to Cloud. Everyone, save for the one goon left the room. Zack leaned forward slightly, holding his stomach. "I think I may explode," he commented. Just then, he felt the tread below him start moving. It was slow at first but started to speed up shortly moving Cloud and Zack into a fast paced walk. "Hey…I may be able to handle this," Zack said, grinning at Cloud.

"If only," Cloud replied.

There was a timer on each of the treadmills showing how much time was passing. After five minutes the treads sped up into a jogging speed. Five minutes after that they were into a full-out run. The first half hour was agony, Zack thought. After only a few minutes of running he had gotten a cramp in his side from the water and thought for sure the pain of it was going to do him in quick but it went away after the half hour. He stopped feeling like a balloon after 45 minutes. Not only that but he wasn't even sweating or breathing hard. He laughed to himself thinking he could go all day on the treadmill if he had to.

He was wrong. At an hour and fifteen minutes he was feeling a little pressure in his chest as his lungs began to ache for more oxygen and he was forced into taking faster breaths. He had begun to sweat soon after. Fifteen minutes after that he was panting and though he swore he would never be thirsty after that liter of water he had forced down earlier he actually was starting to wish he had more.

An hour and forty-five minutes. _Incredible_, Zack thought to himself. He couldn't believe he had been running that long. The mako and the Whip effects were clear. As elated as it made him feel to actually be able to make it that long he was also starting to feel very desperate to slow down and start cooling off. His body ached, especially his legs which were burning intensely. He was sweating from head to toe and trying hard to intake air to keep his lungs from collapsing on themselves. At the two hour mark he glanced at Cloud. He looked like Zack felt. Sweating bullets, trying desperately to keep up with the moving tread, his body visibly weary.

Two hours and ten minutes. Cloud sounded more like he was hyperventilating than breathing. He was just barely managing to stay ahead of the tread, running at the back end of it. Zack wanted to call out to him to encourage him to keep going but there was no way he could form words. Cloud fell then, his knees buckling. He hit the tread and was pulled back with it where he rolled off onto the floor painfully, taking in air in gasps. Zack realized quickly that he shouldn't have tried to look back to see if he was okay. As soon as he did he disoriented himself, missing the tread with his one foot, sending him to the floor as well, not that he was really upset about it. Though he could have done without the additional pain of having his chest and chin slam against the treadmill, he felt somewhat relieved to not have to force his legs to move anymore. They were in agony as it was, burning like crazy. Even though he was lying on the floor he still felt like he was moving at the speed of the tread.

There were a few moments when both Zack and Cloud lay motionless besides the fast rising and falling of their chests and slight trembling in their bodies. The treadmills stopped moving and the door to the room opened, one of the assistants and Marsh entered. The assistant stepped over to Cloud, reaching down to take his arm and urge him to move to the bench. Marsh motioned to do the same with Zack but he pulled his arm away from her fast.

"I'd really appreciate you keeping your hands off me right now, Doc," he said harshly as he continued to pant. She recoiled, standing over him awkwardly. After a moment he pulled himself to the bench where he sat next to Cloud, leaning back against the wall. Another of the assistants came in with more bottles of water, four to be exact. He set two down next to Zack and two next to Cloud. Sure, Zack was happy to have water but the fact he knew he was expected to down two liters of it was what made him uneasy.

Life was slowly descending into hell. This is what Zack decided four days later, after he and Cloud were subjected to the same routine day after day after day. Wake up. Vitmins and food. Blood tests and mako. Whip injections and treadmills. Nap and food. More mako. Sleep. Repeat. It was on the fourth day that Zack snapped.

He sat on the bench in what he and Cloud had decided to call the 'Treadroom' and had just downed the first of the two bottles of water. Just as the day before, he and Cloud had been run off their feet, literally, and now being subjected to hydration. Marsh was busy cleaning up a cut on Cloud's forehead he had gotten a few minutes earlier when he hit the panel on the treadmill as he fell. Zack had been watching when his second bottle of water was held in front of his face, blocking his view. He looked up at the assistant holding it. "Drink," the assistant demanded. Zack narrowed his eyes. Cloud would have seen what was coming had he not been distracted.

"Why don't you get that bottle out of my face before it gets a new home down your throat," Zack replied to the assistant who just pushed it into his chest more insistently. Zack felt his fury rise to the brim. He took the bottle in his hand, keeping his eyes on the assistant. He raised it to his lips then lowered it suddenly shaking it hard at the lab ass, sending water careening onto him. He stood fast when he saw the goon headed at him and whipped the bottle and the rest of the water at him. The goon raised his arms to deflect the bottle but it didn't stop him from getting a shower of water. He came at Zack then, not that he was much of a challenge, the goon that is. Zack knew he was so high on mako and Whip that he could take out everyone in that room in less than a minute. He nearly did. The goon and the assistant were down and he felt a hand grab his shoulder. He pushed whoever it was back and turned with his fist drawn back to see the doctor backed up at the wall in front of him, her arms raised to shield herself. Zack knew that laying a hit on the doctor would be crossing even his own lines but yet he was ready to do it and was almost sure he would have had Cloud not put himself in the way.

"ZACK!" he shouted his name as he stepped in front of the doctor, holding his arms out to shield her. For a second Cloud thought Zack was going to let his fist fly and hit him so he turned his head in anticipation but Zack had lowered his fist. He fell into Cloud then as another goon had entered the room and took an elbow to the top of Zack's spine at the base of his neck. Cloud fell to the ground under Zack's weight, his arms under Zack's trying to bring him down as carefully as he could with him. The hit had knocked Zack out cold. Sadly, Cloud was thankful. He was afraid to see the repercussions if he continued to fight. He knew that Zack's outburst alone was going to cost him. That was confirmed when Cloud was returned to the cell alone and Zack was dragged off elsewhere.


	14. Chapter 14

_Hey guys! Hope y'all are having a great weekend! I have TWO chapters for you. That's right, count 'em! TWO. Though there's a bit of a reason behind that. I know I JUST said that I would be back to my regular updating times but I may not be able to update till next weekend or a few days after. I'm going to be spending the week with my dad and I don't really get to see much of him so I'm thinking I'll be pretty busy, though who knows, I may have an attack of insomnia and write something when I should be sleeping lol :D ALSO, please read the warning i give at the beginning of the next chapter. T'is very important lol. Thank you so much all who reviewed last chapter! I shall be replying later than normal meaning right after I submit this chapter hahaha! So, without further ado, i give you Chapter 14!_

_Disclaimer: FF belongs to someone else. But of course. :(_

Chapter XIV

Zack awoke to a stiff neck as his head was resting against his chest. He groaned first against the aching pain that ran through him head to toe but exaggerated it at the end, letting the sound run from his mouth as long as it took the breath to leave his lungs. If he could have had anything in the world at that moment it would have been the freedom to lie down. But to his total lack of surprise he would get mako instead. He knew any minute one of the goons would be coming for him…

000

Edwin Doner and Vince Vallow. They were two of the four thuggish goons Hojo had hired to help with the 'enforcement' of his project. Basically they were there to escort/drag Zack and Cloud around and manhandle them whenever necessary. Doner was decent, as far as thuggish hired goons go. He was an ex-SOLDIER in fact but never would give the details on his 'retirement' from the program. Tall, muscular like some kind of pro-wrestler. He would make small talk sometimes, mostly with Zack. He never used more force than was necessary when dealing with them either. It was always a _pleasure_, so to speak, to have him the one dragging them around for testing and whatnot. Vallow on the other hand…Well. If there was a Decency Spectrum and Doner was on the one end Vallow would be way the fuck and gone on the other end. Large, not so much in height as weight. Still, he was tall enough. Vile. Zack and Cloud had learned from Doner that he had worked as a corrections officer for most of his career, mostly in juvenile detention facilities until he had been investigated by the feds over rumors that he was subjecting inmates to cruel and unusual forms of punishment. Before the investigation could really take off, Vallow was 'let go' from his job and lost all chance of working as a corrections officer ever again. There were a hundred million reasons Zack and Cloud could think of to avoid Vallow at all costs. Easier said than done of course.

Cloud stirred from his uneasy sleep by the sound of the door to the room opening. He lifted himself on his elbows to see Vallow standing in the doorway. "Dippin' time," he said in his hoarse brutish voice that suggested he had been a heavy smoker from many years. Dipping was what the mako treatment had been dubbed by the goons. Cloud dragged himself to his feet, still feeling drained from the 'Dip' the night before. He began to remove his shirt slowly. It was the new protocol. It made sense. After all, if he didn't take his clothes off there then they would be taken off in the lab anyway and there was a likely chance he'd be returned to the cell later and the goons would forget to bring his clothes with them or just choose not to bother.

Cloud felt Vallow's eyes on him as he undressed and it made him very uneasy. Images of the guard that still haunted his dreams sometimes flashed in front of him. He wished to God he didn't have to look like he did. He wished he could have had a more masculine physique. Some day he would perhaps…when he had finished growing, when he wasn't kept on the verge of underweight from not be fed enough, when his skin had a chance to age and roughen and he could keep his hair short the way it should be. He tried his best to ignore the fact that Vallow watched his every movement like a hawk ready to swoop in and attack. Just as he did his best to ignore the feeling that he was sizing him up from behind while they walked to the lab, Cloud in front of Vallow.

Once in the lab, sitting in his usual chair, he felt his tension lift a little, which was rather sad considering the lab brought little comfort. The routine had been adjusted slightly since the day after Zack flipped out in the Tread Room, which was three days ago. Instead of receiving mako treatment after being fed in the morning, the mako was administered first and food and vitamins given after. This was Cloud's fault really. The day after Zack's outburst as he floated in his tube having mako gas filling his lungs he had become too sick to hold down his breakfast and began to throw up. Because there was nowhere for it to go, he had begun choking on his vomit, creating a slight panic in the lab and a mess that none of the assistants wanted to deal with twice. The problem with being fed after the mako treatment was that the one of the side affects of mako was nausea and everyone knows how difficult it is to eat when you already feel like throwing up your entire stomach.

Though, for Zack, he probably could have eaten anytime since he undoubtedly hadn't seen any sustenance in three days. Which was Zack's _own_ fault. His first night in the ' Hanger' (there were names for everything), which was the same place Cloud had experienced his punishment after their last escape attempt, one of the goons had been ordered to administer a Cropping. A Cropping was essentially a whipping with the use of a flexible braided wand. Hanging by his wrists, just as Cloud had been, the goon applied a 20-Mark Cropping, leaving 20 burning, blistered welts across his back. The next day, Zack was supposed to be released from the Hanger but gave the goon a concussion instead which had him in there for another day and another Cropping. The third day he was released for a total of 5 minutes before busting the same goon's nose as he made an insulting comment about Zack's mother. Because of this, Cloud and Zack only saw each other for the hours that they were breathing mako or running for their lives on treadmills.

It was the morning of the fourth day now and Cloud was waiting to find out if Zack had managed to suppress his hostility long enough to end his suffering. Cloud knew Zack was going to have permanent scarring around his wrists from the amount of time he had spent suspended from the ceiling, having the metal cuffs digging into his flesh hour after hour. Reno, for some reason, had shown up in the lab to talk to Hojo so Cloud was also trying to strain his ears to hear what it was they were talking about. Zack was brought into the lab then, shuffling in nonchalantly, determined to prove himself unbeatable. He glared at Reno as he passed him and was led to his place next to Cloud.

"How ya doin', kid," he asked Cloud without looking at him. Like Cloud, he was focused on Reno and Hojo.

"Fine," Cloud answered absent-mindedly.

"That's quite possibly the creepiest partnership in the world," Zack commented then in reference to Reno and the professor

"No kidding…"

Hojo turned toward them then. "Well, Z1, I see you managed to make it down here without injuring anyone on my payroll," he said harshly, obviously not amused by the way Zack had been rebelling the past few days.

"Oh well, it's still early, there's always time for that later," Zack responded fast.

"I believe you would seriously regret that decision, Z1."

"What the fuck you gonna do about it Hojo? Your bullshit doesn't hurt me," Zack said sharply. Hojo smiled.

"Tsk Tsk, Z1. It's not always about you," he said strangely. Zack stared at him in irritated confusion. He watched Hojo stride over to Reno, taking his EMR from him. "I know exactly how you operate, Z1. And I know now that the best insurance I have to ensure you start keeping yourself in line," he went on as he walked back forward with the rod "is right…here." He stepped up in front of Cloud, holding the EMR up to his face, the end just centimeters from the skin of his right cheek. Zack felt his stomach sink hard. He watched Cloud as he pulled back from the rod nervously as far as the chair would allow, which wasn't much. "So from now on Z1, when you misbehave, it is C4 that will see the consequences," Hojo continued. He activated the rod, electricity sparking out the end and snapping as it was brought close enough to Cloud to make a jump to his body, sending a quick shock through the side of his face and neck. Cloud gasped and jerked his head away instinctively against the brief sting of pain. "Keep that in mind, Z1," Hojo said with a tight grin before handing the EMR back over to Reno who stood with a look of amusement on his face.

"You son of a bitch…" Zack muttered as he shook his head slowly, following Hojo as he moved to the cylinders to prepare the usual mako treatment. He chuckled mildly, knowing he had complete control of Zack now. He was forcing him to go against his nature to fight. He knew how awful it was going to be for Zack to keep himself restrained. And that was something that greatly amused him.

The day didn't get much better after that. Following the mako treatment, Cloud and Zack were brought back to their cell, together once again, where Zack consumed both his and Cloud's meal. Cloud didn't care, he wouldn't have eaten it anyway. He wasn't feeling particularly well. He couldn't be positive but it felt like a little something more than just the usual mako effects. That was confirmed later on as he was undergoing testing in the tread room. He and Zack had been gradually pushing closer to 3 hour runs. At 2 hours and 40 minutes Cloud knew something was wrong. His chest grew tight all of a sudden and though he tried to breathe in, it seemed that the oxygen was getting blocked in his airway. Zack saw that something was wrong as Cloud gripped his chest and pain was drawn in his expression.

"HEY!" Zack shouted at the darkened window ahead. "STOP THE TREADMILLS!"

Too late. Cloud was already down. Zack grabbed the handles of his treadmill and used them to swing himself off the moving tread onto the floor where he dropped down next to Cloud who was still gripping his chest hard. Air went in and out of him in short wheezes. As Zack leaned over him, Cloud grabbed his arm with his other hand. "I-I—" he struggled hard to speak, barely able to make sound. "Can-'t…b-rea-the." Zack watched Cloud's face getting redder as the veins in his neck seemed to be trying to push themselves up out of his skin.

"MARSH!" Zack yelled out, his voice quivering in panic. The doctor was just coming through the door with a black case in her hands. She dropped down on her knees on the other side of Cloud, opening the case.

"Za-ck," Cloud mouthed his name. As he did, blood pushed past his lips, running in lines down the sides of his face.

"Hold on, Spike!" Zack urged him then looked at Marsh who was filling a syringe with clear liquid. "What the hell is happening to him, Doc?"

"His heart is failing, it's causing his lungs to fill with blood," she responded like a textbook though her hands were shaking as she tried to work fast.

Zack felt Cloud's grip on his arm loosen then and looked down at him to see his eyes rolling back. "CLOUD!" Zack shouted frantically, gripping his friend's face with both hands. "Look at me, Cloud!" he pleaded angrily, knowing he was going to bloody lose it if Cloud died right then and there. Marsh injected the clear liquid from the syringe into Cloud's arm. Cloud's eyes refocused but threatened to roll back with each second as his eye lids hung heavy. "Stay with me, Spikey," Zack commanded, a few tears falling with gravity from his own eyes and landing on Cloud's one cheek. "Please…"

Just then, someone was grabbing him and pulling him back from Cloud. He fought back till he realized the goons had moved him to make room to bring in a stretcher and an oxygen tank. An air mask was strapped to Cloud's face and he was hauled up on the stretcher that the lab assistants began wheeling out.

"Doc!" Zack shouted to Marsh, struggling against Doner who was holding onto him and keeping him immobilized. "Let me go with you! DOC!" Marsh looked back at him, the pain of indecision in her expression. "Doc, please!" As she stared at him, at the tears streaming down his face she knew she couldn't say no. She nodded at Doner who marched Zack down to the med sector with Marsh and kept watch on him while there.

000

For the first time in what seemed like an eternity, Zack had a concept of how long he and Cloud had been locked away from the rest of the world. In the med sector there was a calendar on one of the walls. _September…I don't believe it_, he thought to himself. The Nibelheim mission was in April. It had been over 5 months that they had been held captive deep below the surface of the world. Dumbfounded, Zack shuffled backwards to the chair he had been intermittently sitting in over the hours he'd waited nervously to hear about Cloud. He jiggled his one knee as he looked to the doorway where Doner stood and kept his eyes fixed there hoping to see Marsh come around the corner any minute.

About 10 minutes later, she arrived. Zack jumped from the chair as she entered the room.

"How is he?" he asked eagerly.

"He's fine. The surgery went well. He's stable," she replied. A long exhale of relief left Zack.

"What happened?"

"He suffered pulmonary edema though I'm not entirely sure why."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Zack questioned skeptically.

"Well it's hard to say if his heart failing caused the edema or if it was something to do with his lungs that led to the heart failure. There was a substantial amount of scar tissue in his lungs that suggests damage from inhaling toxic substances…"

"Mako," Zack said angrily. Marsh nodded slowly.

"If that's true than you would also have the scarring and are at risk for the same thing to happen. Though I believe since Cloud's suffered previous trauma to his heart and lungs not that long ago it may have made him more susceptible to further trauma."

Zack crossed his arms across his chest, simply to stop himself from punching something, the doctor specifically. "Well can I see him?" he asked then.

"Of course," Marsh agreed, leading him down to a familiar recovery room he had seen on several occasions. "He's still under anesthesia though so he's unconscious," she pointed out before letting him pass by into the room.

Zack took a seat in the chair next to the bed where Cloud lay. He looked over his friend, shaking his head in frustration as he stared down at the dressing covering the line of stitching in the centre of his chest. He felt so helpless. It made him feel like bawling. I didn't know how much more he was going to be able to take. He couldn't handle seeing his friend dying in front of him again. He'd seen it more than once over the time they had been held captive and each time he felt himself being pushed ever closer to the breaking point. Marsh entered the room then and stood at the foot of the hospital bed, watching the slow rising and falling of Cloud's chest.

"How long is it gonna take for you to wake the hell up?" Zack asked after a brief awkward silence. She glanced at him behind her glasses. "Hojo's killing us, Doc, and you're helping him!"

"That's not true," she denied, taking obvious offense.

"Yeah well, that's what it looks like from here. You just stand back and watch as he takes us apart bit by bit, putting us through his ridiculous fucking experiments. All so he can create some goddamn super-SOLDIER. Well, it's impossible! Look at him, Doc," he demanded, pointing at Cloud. "He's 15. Do you remember what you were doing when you were 15? Was it as painful and torturous as what he's been going through? All he's ever known is pain and sadness and I swear to God, Doc, if he dies here and the last thing he experiences is more pain I am going to take out everyone in this whole fucking hellhole and that includes you."

Marsh studied his expression. He was deadly serious and she knew it. She had to leave the room before breaking into tears like the pathetic excuse for a human she was. Zack had every right to say the things he did and she couldn't blame him for a second for feeling like he did. Hojo and Shinra had stolen their lives. Even if they survived the professor's experimentation, what they went through would be a part of them forever, that's if they didn't become so transformed by what she knew was still to come that they no longer knew who they were anymore…

Zack sat with Cloud as long as he was allowed before Doner was told to bring him back to the cell. He deduced by the fact that he wasn't brought for mako treatment that night that Marsh had expressed her concerns over the mako administration and Hojo was now in deep contemplation about how to get his poison into his subjects.

Zack didn't sleep that night. He lay on his back in the centre of the room staring at the ceiling and imagining a dark sky full of stars above it. In Midgar you could never see the stars at night. In his hometown though…it was incredible. He thought of his parents then, of what the past 5 months had been like for them. He suddenly wished he had tried harder when he had the chance to keep in touch more often with them, to call them or write them and tell them how much he cared about and missed them. It was just another of those things people took for granted he supposed. As hard as he tried not to, eventually he thought of Aeris. He wondered what she was doing, if she was sound asleep in bed or lying awake and restless like him. He wished there was some way, some sign he could give her to let her know he was alive and thinking of her. Closing his eyes, he focused on the image he had in his head of her face and thought that perhaps if he concentrated as hard as he could maybe, just maybe she could read his thoughts…

000

The next morning, Zack was shocked to find the door to the cell opening and Cloud being led into the room with the help of Doner, holding his one arm as he was still weak and groggy from his recovery and whatever medication he had been given. Zack pulled himself up to help Cloud sit down. "You okay, buddy?" Zack questioned. Cloud nodded though he didn't really seem to know what he'd been asked. "Should he have been brought back here this soon?" he asked Doner who just shrugged and headed for the door. Zack frowned, looking back at Cloud whose head was hanging a little. He seemed about ready to drop off to sleep. That was pretty much confirmed when he slid toward Zack and let his head rest on his shoulder before passing out. Zack scoffed in mild irritation knowing Cloud really should be lying down in a bed and not slumped against a wall on the floor next to him.

Cloud slept for what was probably about two hours. Zack had to wake him up when their vitamins and food came. He nearly dropped the paper cup with the pills in it and Zack closed his hand around Cloud's to help him grip it, doing the same with the water.

"Ain't that adorable?" Vallow commented as he waited for them to finish with their vitamins. Zack glared at him.

"Shut the fuck up, Vallow," he sneered, wanting to smack the stupid grin off his face.

"Or what?" Vallow challenged, stepping forward. Zack bit his tongue before he could respond. He suddenly remembered what Hojo had said the day before. _So from now on Z1, when you misbehave, it is C4 that will see the consequences_. He couldn't risk stepping out of line. "That's what I thought," Vallow said smugly as he snatched the paper cups from them and left the room. Zack stared at the food that had been left.

"You hungry, Spike?" he asked Cloud who shook his head softly. "Yeah, probably a good thing. I doubt any normal hospital would let you eat right now anyway. I swear these assholes don't have a clue about what they're doing…" Cloud was silent though his eyes were open so he appeared awake. "Whatcha thinkin', buddy?" Zack asked, nudging him a little with his elbow.

"Bridges," he muttered quietly, barely loud enough to hear. Zack's heart ached to hear that word come out of him. It was a piece of ancient military terminology. Having your commander give the order to 'Go Bridges, or Burn Bridges" meant basically to lay down arms and either surrender to the enemy or take your own life to prevent capture.

"Don't think like that, Spike," Zack scolded.

"I'm tired, Zack, I don't wanna do this anymore. If there was any chance of surviving this—"

"We _are_ gonna survive this. We'll find a way out, I promise. Just don't give up, okay?" Cloud nodded slowly, looking at the floor. "Say it out loud, Cloud," Zack demanded.

"I won't give up," he said just above a whisper. It didn't do much for Zack's confidence.

By the afternoon, after Cloud had slept some more, he seemed to be doing a little better. Not long after he woke the door to the room was opening and Dr. Marsh came in with some paper cups.

"We already had our candy," Zack spoke from where he lay on the tile.

"It's medication, for Cloud," she replied, walking to where Cloud sat and handing him the cups.

"Thank you," Cloud said softly as he handed the cups back to her, which she placed in the one pocket of her lab coat. She caught Zack rolling his eyes at his politeness toward her.

"I know you think I'm heartless," Marsh spoke sadly, her hands in the pockets of her lab coat.

"No—" Cloud began.

"Pretty much," Zack spoke over him, drawing a harsh look from his friend. Marsh took something from her pocket then. It was a thin leather card holder. She opened it slowly and looked down at it before handing it to Cloud. His eyes fell upon the face of a young girl, no older than 4 or 5. She had long dark hair and big beautiful green eyes.

"That's my daughter, just before she got sick," Marsh explained quietly.

"Sick?" Cloud questioned as he passed the picture off to Zack.

"She developed a rare form of cancer. She's spent the last year and a half of her life in the hospital. It's been difficult to afford the treatment she needs to keep her alive…"

"That's why you work for Hojo?"

She nodded. "He makes sure she stays at the top of the treatment list."

"What about her father?" Zack spoke up then, reaching the card holder back out to the doctor. She stepped forward to take it from him, shoving it back in her pocket.

"He died in an automobile accident not long after she was born," she replied without emotion, as if all she could possibly feel over it had already been exhausted long ago.

"Sorry," Cloud said sympathetically. She gave him a thankful nod.

"I didn't tell you this to make you feel sorry for me, though. I think really what I'm hoping for is understanding. It breaks my heart to see you both suffer here…but I don't know what I can do. My daughter is all I have left in the world…"

She looked like she could break into sobs where she was standing. Zack and Cloud looked at one another uneasily. "It's fine, doc," Zack said at last, exhaling heavily. "You look out for the ones you love. That's life."

She studied his expression. She knew what he was saying was truth. She knew he was being sincere but she could also see past it, down to the place where she could almost hear him saying to her 'there's always another way.' She left the room feeling no less guilty than when she had entered.

"She just had to have a daughter," Zack sighed as he lay back and rested his hands behind his head. _Well that puts plan b out the friggin window, _he thought then as he realized Marsh would never sacrifice her own flesh and blood to save him and Cloud. Until he could think of something else, they were screwed.


	15. Chapter 15

_Hello again! haha! K, so as I mentioned in the previous chapter I have a warning to issue on this one. There is material in this chapter that is of a non-consensual sexual nature that is more detailed than anything I've had written in previous chapters. While most of you realize this story is rated 'M' I know that sometimes it may slip the reader's mind. I'm not trying to give anything away in the chapter haha but I also don't want to leave any of you unprepared as sexual abuse is clearly a sensitive issue. Now, I also don't want any of you to feel like you have to miss a whole chapter if you don't wish to read any of the explicit details so I have written it in a way that you can skip over those parts and still know what's going on. The explicit material will be headed by a **XXX** and will also be ended by the same three x's. So, you have been warned lol. Read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: fanfic mine, concept of characters and plot no mine. damn. _

Chapter XV

Fortunately for Hojo, he had come up with a way to reduce the chances of what he was calling a "C4 incident" happening again. Mako was only to be administered every other day with combat testing and 'replenishment' on the off days. Combat testing consisted of dueling Turks for as long as it took till someone got hurt or was forced to surrender. That usually took the first half of the day while the second half was spent in the lab floating in the tubes while whatever special liquid Zack and Cloud were submerged in would work to repair whatever injuries they had acquired that morning and the day before.

Day after day was slipping by and Zack had come up with no plan on how to get he and Cloud out of their prison. It was unbelievably discouraging. Not only that, but Zack had been faced daily with keeping his behavior in check. The goons knew what was at stake too. They knew that if Zack stepped out of line that Cloud was going to be the one to pay for it and all of them, save for Doner, took advantage of that. The only thing Zack could do is throw verbal slams back at them. Even worse than that, he had to be careful in combat testing that his offensive measures weren't too aggressive or that could be construed as him 'acting out of line' and again, punishment would be given to his friend. It was horribly cruel and it was wearing away at Zack fast. He lived in such fear that his actions were going to affect Cloud that he was allowing himself to become passive, to only really fight when he had to.

He stood in the combat training room opposite a Turk named Spen. They had been given swords to fight with. Zack's specialty. He blocked and defended expertly but when it came to the offensive he was hesitant. His hesitancy was becoming his weakness. It resulted in him getting a nasty gash on his right shoulder that ended the combat test. He couldn't remember the last time he had been beaten in a match with swords. It was humiliating and it wasn't right. Even Cloud knew it and called him on it.

"What the hell, Zack? You could have clobbered that guy," he pointed out in the change room.

"I know," Zack responded in exasperation.

"Well then why did you hold back?"

Zack didn't really feel like talking about it and fortunately he didn't have to as Dr. Marsh had come to take care of the wound inflicted on his shoulder.

"You're lucky. It's a nearly superficial wound," Marsh commented as she was applying some antiseptic to his shoulder. He wasn't paying attention to her however. He was focused on Cloud at the other end of the change room. Vallow was with him. He was standing with a bottle of water in his hand that he was supposed to be giving to Cloud. He held it out but as Cloud reached for it and closed his hand around it, Vallow pulled the bottle back and said something to him. Cloud was visibly uncomfortable.

"You remind me of a kid on the street where I used to live," Vallow spoke in a strange tone to Cloud. "He was quiet, kinda shy," he added. Cloud listened to him nervously, not really giving a shit what he had to say to him. He felt cornered by Vallow and just wanted to get away from him. "I don't think he had many friends," the goon continued. "He was really just looking for someone to talk to and…get close to, I think." He reached down to pick a small particle of something from Cloud's shirt. "Like you," he went on.

"I don't think so," Cloud responded, motioning to move past him. A bulky arm shot out against the wall, blocking him.

"You just don't know what you need," Vallow insisted, eyeing him eerily. "You're too young to know."

Seeing Vallow block Cloud from passing him sent Zack's anger into overdrive as he stood up in preparation to head toward him. A hand closed around his wrist and pulled him back down to the bench where he had been sitting. He looked fast at Marsh.

"I'm not finished yet," she said firmly. He glared at her then back to where Vallow and Cloud had been though they were both gone. Zack felt a little uneasy then till he found out Cloud had been taken down to the lab for replenishing. That wasn't the only time Zack noticed Vallow hovering around Cloud.

It was becoming a daily occurrence to see Vallow corner Cloud, talking to him in a low tone so he could never be sure what he was saying. When he confronted Cloud about it all he ever said was "That guy's just fucked." It was actually Doner who laid out exactly what Vallow's intentions were. Not surprisingly, they were the farthest thing from innocent.

Recently, Zack and Cloud had been brought for fitness testing in the Tread Room separately. This particular day, Zack had been first for testing. When he was led out of the Tread Room by Doner he saw Vallow standing just outside in the hall with Cloud who was backed up against the one wall as Vallow was talking to him. He seemed relieved to see Zack and Doner and hurried past them into the Tread Room. Zack knew then something had to be done.

"What the hell is Vallow's deal?" he asked Doner as they reached the cell.

"What?" Doner questioned in confusion.

"Why the hell is he always hanging around Cloud?"

"I'm sure you know," Doner answered with a dry laugh, stepping into the cell. Zack's stomach twisted in disgust.

"Why the fuck can't he go out and get himself a goddamn hooker?" he questioned angrily. Doner laughed.

"'Cause young male whores aren't a common feature around here," he commented matter-of-factly.

Zack realized then that Vallow wasn't interested in Cloud because he was starved sexually or wanted someone to humiliate. He was interested in him because Cloud was Cloud.

"He's just a kid," Zack said quietly, shaking his head, feeling helpless.

"Yeah well…It ain't my choice of past-time, bud, but looks like it's too fuckin' bad for your friend…unless you think _you_ can do something for Vallow." Zack looked up at him watching him cross his bulky arms and stare at him questioningly. He looked away then, squeezing his hands into fists tightly. Doner scoffed, lowering his arms and moving to leave.

.

"Wait," Zack said fast, stepping in front of him and putting a hand on his chest to stop him. Doner paused, waiting. It took all of Zack's willpower to nod his head slowly.

"I'll let him know," Doner said then, heading out, pushing past Zack's right shoulder as he did so. The small force of it almost knocked Zack off his feet because he was so consumed in what he had just agreed to do to protect Cloud from Vallow. He had to do it. He couldn't live with himself knowing he could have kept it from happening to Cloud.

The next day after Zack's testing he was led back to his cell and told by Doner that Vallow was waiting. _Fabulous_, Zack thought to himself as Doner pushed him into the room and shut the door. He hesitated a moment before moving to the bathroom where Vallow was presumably waiting. He was. Sitting there staring from his spot on the lid of the toilet. When Zack entered he smiled smugly and reached to undo his pants. Zack was frozen where he stood, sweat breaking out on his forehead, his nerves choking him. "Well?" Vallow spoke. "It ain't gonna get any harder," he remarked in amusement.

_I dunno about that_, Zack thought to himself as he made himself move forward, thinking about how unbelievably difficult this was going to be for him to do. With every bit of self-control he had he forced himself to his knees in front of Vallow.

When it was over and Vallow had left, Zack was grateful to be at the foot of the toilet because a split second after he heard the door click shut to the room he was throwing the lid of the toilet up and forcing himself to expel his stomach contents. He wanted to rid himself of every part of Vallow he'd had in him. When he was finished he rested his head on his arm as his body shook. Shaking from the force of throwing up. Shaking from anger. And from the suffocating shame he felt. This was him, Zack First Class SOLDIER Fair.

Dropping to his knees to service that fat son of a bitch seemed soon enough to fall into the rest of the routine Zack was growing accustomed to, though it was only every other day thankfully. Whenever Cloud was undergoing testing. If Cloud was first Zack would watch him leave and wait for the door to open like clockwork about 10 minutes after and Vallow would stroll in on his own, closing the door behind him. If Zack was first for testing he knew that when he was brought back to the cell that Vallow would already be in the bathroom, waiting. Most of the time, Zack hoped Cloud would be brought for testing first because if he, himself, was brought first, he was usually so exhausted by the time he got back that he found it hard to keep himself from passing out long enough to get the deed done. Though, he had noticed Vallow usually seemed more aroused when he returned after testing, his body and hair still glistening in sweat and it was on those days that he would come faster which meant he would leave quicker and Zack had more time to clean up and compose himself before Cloud got back.

Things were all well and fine. For Cloud anyhow who, despite being somewhat confused as to why Vallow was no longer harassing him, was grateful to be left alone. Zack had done everything possible to keep Cloud none the wiser about what had been going on. It was a more difficult feat than he ever would have imagined. There were days when he just wanted to curl into a corner on his own and forget about the world but he forced himself to be stronger than that. To talk when he had nothing to talk about and laugh when he only felt like weeping. He never really contemplated what would happen if Cloud ever found out about his deal with Vallow. Yet, inevitability said…he was going to find out.

**XXX**

On that day, Zack was led to the cell like usual, where he took off his shirt before entering the bathroom. He knew Vallow preferred it that way. There he sat, waiting like usual, growing hard at just the sight of Zack walking in. He licked his lips in anticipation, watching Zack come towards him and lower himself to the tiled floor between his legs. He liked to look at Zack first, touching his face and hair before placing his hand on the back of his head and guiding him down. He would usually keep a firm grip on Zack's hair as he leaned back and shut his eyes, moaning. This time however he let go of his hair to grip Zack's bare back, digging his nails into his skin hard enough to draw Zack back to reality from the memory he had retreated into. He winced at the feeling. Hands returned to Zack's head however as he climaxed, gripping fistfuls of his hair and holding onto him until he had finished and Zack had swallowed back his release.

**XXX**

Zack sat back on his heels as Vallow rose to his feet and adjusted himself, headed for the doorway. He exited the bathroom just as the door to the room was opened and Cloud was led in. He couldn't undergo testing because there was a malfunction in the equipment so he had been brought back to the cell, not that he was upset about it. Cloud stared at Vallow in shock and confusion as to why he was there, seeing him just finishing zipping the fly of his pants shut. He gave Cloud an eerie smirk as he stepped out of the room and shut the door. Cloud stood silently then trying to make himself understand. He realized with horror what had been going on as he listened to the sounds of Zack forcing himself to throw up. He stood in shock thinking about it. _How long…how long has this been happening? Five weeks ago Vallow stopped—oh God, Zack, no…_He heard the toilet flush then. Anger was coming over him suddenly. He moved toward the bathroom, entering to see Zack sitting with his back to the toilet. One knee he had drawn up with his arm resting on it, his hand covering his eyes. He must have sensed Cloud standing there and lowered his hand, looking up at him in shock, his face glazed in sweat. "Cloud," he spoke his name in surprise. Cloud was almost shaking he was so upset. Seeing Zack sitting there like he was and knowing suddenly the reason he had put himself there made him sick to his stomach. He shook his head, turning away in disgust to leave. "CLOUD!" Zack cried out his name as he frantically pulled himself up to go after him. "Cloud, wait!" he pleaded as he grabbed his friend's shoulder. Cloud whipped himself around fast and pulled away from Zack.

"Tell me this isn't why Vallow decided to leave me alone!" he shouted at Zack, looking him in the eyes hard. "Tell me you didn't do this because of me, Zack!"

"Cloud, please, I…" Zack struggled for an explanation. He reached out to Cloud, placing a hand on either side of Cloud's head. "It's okay—" he began to say. Cloud's eyes widened.

"_Okay?_" he questioned incredulously. He threw his hands forward, shoving Zack hard enough that he stumbled back several feet. "OKAY THAT YOU'RE BLOWING THAT PIECE OF SHIT TO KEEP HIM AWAY FROM ME?!" he screamed out so loud his throat stung painfully. Zack didn't know what to say to him. They stared at each other for a moment, both breathing hard. "Goddamn, Zack" Cloud said then, his face still contorted angrily as hot tears started to run from his eyes. "Fuck you," he added, shaking his head as he walked away from him into the bathroom. He couldn't stand to look at him anymore. Zack stepped backwards until his back hit the wall. He slid down to the floor, feeling like he was going to fall apart any second. He lowered his face into his hands so they could catch his emotions as they rushed out of him.

To Zack's dismay, Cloud exerted a great deal of effort to avoid him the rest of the day and night. When brought to the lab he directed his eyes to anywhere but in Zack's direction and later when they were back in their cell, he kept to the other side of the room, lying on his side with his back to Zack. There were a hundred thousand times Zack opened his mouth to try to say something to him but no words would come. What was there to say? He wasn't sorry for it. Sorry he found out maybe. Sorry that it had come to that perhaps but what he did he did to keep Cloud from getting hurt. If there was one thing that was breaking Zack up inside though, it was the fact that despite all he had done to prevent it, Cloud had ended up hurt anyway and he was the reason behind it.

000

In the combat training room the following morning, Cloud stood opposite the ever annoying Reno. Apparently, Hojo found it entertaining to continuously pair them together to spar, though he claimed it was because Reno was the closest to matching Cloud in size. That was bullshit of course, and it was really irrelevant. Cloud was smaller than all of the available sparring partners, many of which were identical to Reno in size and perhaps an inch or so shorter. More than anything, Hojo probably liked to see how Reno's obnoxious nature affected Cloud's performance.

That day they were sparring with sai's, a set of unfortunate weaponry that meant closer combat. In this case it meant Cloud was that much closer to Reno who was able to have one hundred percent of his annoying remarks heard instead of the usual ninety-five percent. Most of the fight for Cloud had been spent doing blocks. But then, he hadn't really had much incentive to attack.

"So I hear your boyfriend's been cheatin' on ya, baby boy" Reno remarked as he threw a punch that Cloud down blocked. "I gotta say, I always suspected there was something special pretty boy was doing to get himself to the top ranks of SOLDIER."

Now Cloud had incentive. He cross-blocked another of Reno's blows before stepping forward into a front stance fast, sending an uppercut with his right hand followed by a two-hand punch, the butt of the hilt on the right sai hitting Reno's throat while the left was rammed into his solar plexus. Reno stumbled back, dropping to his one knee, Cloud coming after him fast, delivering a kick to his chest that had him on his back with Cloud holding his right sai to Reno's neck. For once, Reno was speechless.

"Say one more word, Turk, and your bald friend with shades will be helping you pick your intestines off the floor," Cloud warned in a low tone. "Got it?" he questioned, digging the sai deeper into the flesh of Reno's neck. Just then, Cloud felt a flash of hot pain in his palms, forcing him to drop both sai. He realized then that the weapons must have been equipped with sensors that when activated would deliver a low volt shock, probably to ensure prisoners like he and Zack could be unarmed easily. He looked upwards to the window in the viewing room where Hojo stood with his hands behind his back looking so very intrigued.

In the change room, Zack was waiting for Cloud to be finished before his testing began. For the first time in 24 hours Cloud actually looked at him when he was led in the room. It was a look Zack couldn't stand. It was a look of pity.

The afternoon brought the usual replenishment in the lab, which needless to say was probably the best 6 hours Zack and Cloud could ask for. It was the only time they weren't in pain or being forced to do something. Without those hours they may already have lost their minds. The end always came too soon. This time Vallow was there to collect them and take them back to their cell one at a time. He hummed some song Cloud didn't know as he marched behind like usual. Cloud would have loved to strangle the bastard right there if he thought he could actually do it. Vallow was probably three times his size. No. Taking him down would need to be done through different means. Means that Cloud was in no way excited to employ.

Vallow led Cloud in the cell as usual then turned to leave. "Vallow!" Cloud called his name before he stepped through the door. He looked back at him questioningly. Not once had Cloud ever been the one to address him. There was a bit of a hesitation from Cloud before he continued. "I have a preposition for you." Cloud watched as Vallow's mouth curled up into a smile.

000

Neither Cloud or Zack slept that night. Cloud was busy going over and over in his head what he knew was going to happen the next day. Zack was busy trying not to go nuts after not talking to Cloud for over a day. He couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"You gonna stay mad at me forever, kid?" he questioned finally.

"I'm not mad at you," Cloud answered nearly tonelessly.

"Then how come you haven't been talking to me?"

"I never talk. _You _talk," Cloud pointed out. That was pretty much true. Zack raised himself on his elbows.

"I'm really sorry, Cloud, that I upset you, I was only trying—"

"I don't really wanna talk about his, Zack. I get it. I just wanna sleep," Cloud cut him off.

Zack sighed, lowering himself back on the floor. "Sure," he replied quietly knowing no matter how bad he wanted to fix the situation he wasn't going to be able to.

The next day, Zack had been first for testing. Doner came to get him, leading him out into the hall. When they were rounding the corner at the end, Zack caught movement back from where they came. He stopped and glanced back, seeing Vallow outside the cell door, keying in the entry code. There was a split second of momentary confusion in Zack's mind before he called out. "Vallow! Hey!" Vallow threw a smirk his way before entering the cell and closing the door. Doner had taken Zack's upper arm and was pulling him along to the Tread Room. "Wha-what the hell is Vallow doing?" he questioned Doner, feeling a mix of fear and anger rushing through him.

"Just forget about, it's between Vallow and your friend," Doner told him as he prodded him along to the tread room.

000

Cloud waited in nervous anticipation, staring down at the broken shards of glass in the sink. A minute earlier he had slammed his fist into it, shattering the pathetic reflection that was staring back at him. He turned is back to the sink then, leaning back on it, feeling the cold porcelain against the bare skin of his lower back. He heard the sound of the door opening then, a second later it clicked shut. It was like a shotgun going off in his head. He thought of Zack, of how many times he'd shamed himself in that very spot. Subjecting himself to humiliation and abuse for him. _Never again_, Cloud thought. _I won't let you do that for me, Zack. _

**XXX**

Vallow's giant form appeared then. His eyes looked on Cloud like a starving man staring at a feast. Cloud knew he was expecting a lot more from him than he had from Zack. "Goddamn…" Vallow spoke, a hint of ecstasy in his voice. "I been dreamin' bout this for awhile," he added.

"I'll bet," Cloud replied in a low tone, keeping his eyes locked on Vallow as he moved toward him. He made a sound of mock surprise and concern seeing as he got closer that there were small drops of blood falling from Cloud's hand where he had been cut by the glass of the mirror.

"Did you get yourself a boo boo?" he asked as he took Cloud's wrist and raised his hand to inspect it. "Want me to kiss it better?" He smirked, bringing Cloud's hand closer before running his tongue over his knuckles, licking at some of the blood. Cloud had to try hard not to let an expression of disgust come across his face. Goosebumps had broken out on Cloud's skin, not because he was aroused, but because he was terrified. Vallow seemed to take it for the former however as he grabbed Cloud's head suddenly and pressed his mouth to his hungrily. Cloud squeezed his eyes shut feeling his heart pounding against his chest and his inner self screaming at him to get himself away from Vallow.

Vallow was pressing himself into Cloud, as close as he could get. Cloud felt the sink digging into his spine as he was pushed against it. Vallow's tongue had invaded his mouth and he caught a bit of the metallic taste of the blood from his hand Vallow had consumed. Finally, Vallow pulled back but continued to place his slimy lips all over Cloud's face and neck, licking and biting.

He went for Cloud's waist after a minute or so, digging his fingertips into the sides of Cloud's torso and raking them downward as he crouched down, leaving long red lines in his white flesh. He undid Cloud's pants quickly and pulled them from him fast, leaving him standing in his boxers before running his hands all the way up Cloud's thighs. He rose once again as his hands were roaming between Cloud's legs and he looked into his eyes as he smiled sadistically. "It's too bad for the mirror," he commented. "It would have been beautiful to be able to watch your face as I _fuck _you," he added at a whisper.

Cloud forced a half smile as he reached down to undo Vallow's pants, reaching in with his one hand while reaching around to place his other hand firmly on his back. He pressed himself even closer to Vallow, standing on the balls of his feet to speak into his ear. "Such a shame," he whispered somewhat sensually, a moan of anticipation and heightened arousal flowing from Vallow's lips. Cloud winced then as the sound of Vallow's pleasure erupted loudly into a cry of pain that he heard right at his ear. Vallow stumbled back, grabbing for his groin and staring down at the front of his pants that were quickly becoming wet with blood. He looked at Cloud in shock who was leaning against the sink, a shard of glass in his fist, gleaming red.

"Fucking little prick!" Vallow shouted in fury, launching at Cloud, his large hands closing around his neck and squeezing so hard Cloud was shocked not to be crushed. Cloud dropped the shard, losing his nerve as he was having the life choked out of him.

_You have to do it! _Cloud scolded himself. _You know you have to_. Frantically, he reached back into the sink, feeling around the bits of busted mirror, feeling his skin catching and slicing on all the razor edges while trying to pry Vallow's hands from his neck with his free hand. He could see dark spots creeping across his vision and felt himself weakening. Finally, he found a shard big enough, grasping it tightly and plunging it with all his strength into Vallow's neck. Blood spilled out fast as he kept his grip on the glass, forcing it deeper, the crimson liquid ran over his hand and down his arm, spraying like rain onto his face as Vallow struggled to breathe.

Vallow had released Cloud's neck by then and was stepping backwards, trying to pull Cloud's hand away from his neck but he was holding strong, his one hand gripping the back of Vallow's head and pushing him toward the glass that he was forcing into the cartilage and muscle of his wide neck. Desperately, Vallow threw Cloud into the adjacent wall where his back hit hard against the cinderblock and he lost his hold on Vallow's head. The glass shard tore from his neck, still in Cloud's grip as he slid to the floor, Vallow nearly falling on top of him as he collapsed. Cloud sat on the tile breathing heavily and watching Vallow as he tried to pull himself out of the bathroom. He only made it half way through the doorway before the blood loss finished him off and he lay still.

**XXX**

When the door to the cell opened, the first thing Zack saw was Vallow's upper half, blood pooled all around him, the smell of it overwhelming as it lingered in the air. He exchanged a quick glance with Doner before rushing into the room, stepping over Vallow's body to get into the bathroom. He slipped on the blood that seemed to cover the floor and grabbed the sink to catch himself. His eyes found Cloud then, sitting where he had fallen earlier, in a slumped position, his legs straight out in front of him and his arms at his sides resting on the floor, his right hand still curled around the jagged triangle of glass.

"Cloud!" Zack breathed his name in disbelief and horror, seeing him covered in almost as much blood as Vallow was. He dropped down in front of his friend and grabbed his head, forcing him to meet his eyes. He seemed eerily distant. "Cloud, where are you bleeding from?" he questioned fearfully, anxiety gripping him. Cloud shook his head slow.

"'It's not mine," he answered levelly, devoid of feeling. Zack searched his eyes for any indication at all of what he was thinking or feeling and they were blank. He tore his gaze downward to where Cloud was grasping the mirror shard. He pried his fingers open gently to see that he had been gripping it so hard that the one edge of the glass was now embedded in his palm. He pulled at it slowly, glancing up to check Cloud's expression for indication of pain. If he was feeling pain he wasn't showing it. Tossing the glass to the side he gripped the back of Cloud's neck and pushed some of the blood-matted hair back from his eyes with his free hand.

"Please talk to me, Spike," Zack pleaded. He waited for Cloud to respond. It took him a few moments.

"You won't have to protect me from him anymore, Zack," he said quietly, staring at Vallow's lower body.

Zack didn't know what to say to him and he didn't have a chance to even try to come up with something because they were both being taken from the room by the goons and lead in different directions, Zack to yet another new cell and Cloud down to D-Wing.


	16. Chapter 16

_Hey there guys! Gah! So sorry for the wait on this chapter. As you all know, I was visiting with my Dad this week so I was pretty busy but managed to write this in the few hours before bed every night. It's slightly longer than the majority of my chapters so hopefully it makes up for the wait. Thank you SO MUCH everyone who read and reviewed last chapter. You guys are absolutely amazing! I love getting all your feedback and hearing your comments (both positive and negative). I love constructive criticism! Now...a bit of bad news lol. I'm gonna go ahead and make a liar out of myself AGAIN. When I said I would be back to updating twice a week after this week, I didn't really take into account that I'm moving into my mum's place tomorrow and she doesn't have internet. (Yeah, don't ask lol) Sooo...I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do. Don't worry. I'll figure something out. I promise the most you'll have to wait for an update is two weeks. I'll steal internet if I have to hahahah! And in the meantime I'll still be writing so if you do have to wait two weeks I'll likely have two or three chapters ready to post. BLAH, enough of my rambling. Read on and enjoy, guys! :D_

_Disclaimer: I don't own FF. _

Chapter XVI

SNAP! Cloud winced hard as he bit down on his lower lip, teeth sinking into soft tissue. SNAP! The pain was intense, beginning as a sudden shocking sensation that grew into a line of furious fire. SNAP! The lines of fire crisscrossed with one another, cutting bloody X's into his skin. SNAP! Each hit swung him a little as he hung from the ceiling in cuffs. SNAP! In an attempt to keep himself from crying out he dug his teeth deeper into his lip, breaking skin and tasting blood. Five down, twenty left to go. This had been the beginning of his punishment for what he had done to Vallow. A twenty-five-mark cropping followed by a showering, and not 'showering' in the conventional sense. Cloud didn't know what it was but knew it was meant to be painful.

By the time the cropping was finished, Cloud's entire back felt alive with fiery agony. It felt like his skin was being torn from his body, stripped from the muscles and bones. He could feel lines of blood making their way downward, getting absorbed by the material of his boxers. The goon who had just administered the cropping left the room then, shutting and locking the door. There were a few moments of silence then as Cloud hung, trying to make himself take deep breaths through the pain of his brand new injuries. He was so exhausted he could have easily passed out had he not been struck by the unbelievable shocking sensation of being hit with bitterly cold water from all angles. Jets implanted in the stone walls every few feet simultaneously sprayed frigid water at him every 15 seconds or so, beating against his freshly battered back and soaking him from head to toe. This was the 'showering.' By about the fifth time the jets fired, he was shaking all over, his teeth chattering against each other. It was like being submerged beneath the ice of a frozen lake over and over. Painful? There were no words to express how awful it was. All he knew is he would prefer to be cropped all damn night if it meant those jets would shut off.

The cold bit at his wounds, making them sting harshly. As the water seeped into his pores he felt his skin expand slightly, making him feel like his skin was being pulled apart and ripped wider. He gritted his teeth hard and squeezed his eyes shut as he was blasted then he listened to the sound of his blood pounding in his ears as he waited for the next round. He wasn't sure how long it went on. It couldn't have been long but it felt like forever. Fifteen or twenty minutes perhaps. He kept his eyes shut tight and continued to dig his nails into his palms as he kept his hands closed into tense fists for a few long minutes after the jets finally ceased. His heart beat hard against his chest and he took deep breaths as his body shook terribly.

The door to the room opened suddenly and he heard a few people enter. He kept his head down, his hair hanging like a wet veil over his eyes, dripping like the rest of him.

"Tsk tsk," spoke the voice he so hated to hear. The voice of a maniac. Cloud felt something touch his chin. It was the end of Hojo's pen, which he used to raise Cloud's head up slightly. Cloud opened his eyes to stare at the professor through the strands of his hair that gripped his skin. "You and Z1 really need to be taught a lesson in respecting authority," Hojo said then, gazing up at Cloud through his thick glasses.

"You really need to stop hiring assholes," Cloud responded shakily. The professor smirked.

"I must say, C4, every time I let myself feel you are going to be a pointless effort you do something to remind me why I find you so intriguing."

Cloud said nothing.

"It's not so much the fact that you are able to overcome certain adversaries that is interesting, but rather the fact that those adversaries should far surpass you in many ways. Perhaps that's why I am so eager for the later stages of my project. I am anxious to see what will become of a sub-average specimen like yourself."

Cloud was seething though he didn't show it. He kept his expression indifferent though he almost knew if he wasn't hanging immobilized like he was he probably would have thrown himself at the old man and punched a hole in his face.

000

Zack sat silently in the new cell, different from the previous one only in that it wasn't yet tainted with blood. Who knew how long it would stay that way…

He couldn't get the image of Cloud out of his head, sitting on the floor of the bathroom, covered in Vallow's blood. His eyes, so hollow. This place and everything in it was destroying he and Cloud. Slowly, the friend he knew was being sucked away. They were becoming what they never wanted to be. They were becoming desperate, helpless, and broken. Zack felt a deep shame over what he had become. He couldn't help but think of his former mentor, Angeal and what he would think of him. He could see the tall, strong, dark-haired man in his head, his arms crossed as he shook his head in disappointment. Angeal would never have allowed himself to be in his position. He would also do a far better job at looking out for him than he had done for Cloud.

"You're too hard on yourself, kid, you've done a lot for someone still so young," a deep voice drew his attention to the far right corner of the room. He looked to see nothing. Laughing dryly, he shook his head a little.

"I'm going nuts," he said out loud to himself.

"Don't give up, kid," the voice spoke again. This time, Zack's wide eyes fell upon the very real figure that seemed to be in the form of his mentor. He came to a stand slowly, staring in shock at what he was seeing.

"No. Angeal, you aren't really here," he said uneasily, his voice quivering. Angeal only scoffed, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Heh, you look like you've seen a ghost, Zack," the Angeal form said lightly, his eyes glittering a little under the fluorescent lighting.

"Y-you're dead, Angeal," Zack replied as he took some slow steps toward his mentor.

"Then how am I here?" Angeal questioned. Zack shook his head.

"That's easy. I've lost my mind," Zack explained grimly.

"You always were one for the dramatics," Angeal remarked. "Tell you what, kid, you need to pull yourself together and keep your chin up, it's the only way."

"I can't do it, Angeal," Zack said sadly, feeling his eyes welling up with tears.

"Have you forgotten all your dreams already, Zack?"

"No. But—"

"Then you know what you must do."

Zack lowered his head as a few tears fell from his eyes. "I wish you were really here, Angeal," he said at last.

"When did you become such a cynic?" Angeal asked. Zack looked up to see his gloved hand extended to him. He stared at it for a moment before reaching out to it with his own hand. He gasped when Angeal's hand gripped his firmly.

"This can't be real," Zack said in wonderment.

"Goodbye, Zack," Angeal said then. Zack looked up at him in shock only to be met with a blinding flash of light that had him turning his head away. As the light faded, he turned back to see he was alone again in the cell.

"Angeal," Zack whispered as he dropped to his knees on the floor.

000

Still in shock over his 'encounter' with Angeal hours later, Zack hardly noticed when the door to the room was opened and Doner entered with his evening meal. That was an indication there was going to be no mako treatment that night. Pity. As Doner was heading out, Zack snapped back to reality.

"Doner!" he called out to him, stopping him. "Have you seen Cloud?" The goon shook his head. Zack sighed, feeling a new pang of worry set in.

"The kid's got balls, I'll give 'em that," Doner said then before leaving the room.

Zack stared at the bowl in front of him, knowing it was going to remain untouched. _Angeal's right_, he thought after a few moments. _I can't let this place do me in. I gotta stay positive. _He knew it was going to be difficult as all hell but it was the only way he was going to survive. He was going to find a way out and he was going to live to see the day that Shinra was destroyed.

The next day, he was brought for combat testing as usual but Cloud was not. No doubt he was in the Hanger. It took a great deal of effort for Zack to forget his guilt long enough not to let himself be taken down by the Turk he was fighting. He unleashed all his pent-up frustration on him, holding himself back only when he knew he had an opening to completely destroy him. As much as he wanted to murder the whole lot of people in that building he knew what would come of more deaths. Revenge would have to wait.

In the afternoon, as usual, Zack was brought for replenishment. Cloud was not. He couldn't keep some of the 'what if's' from his head. _What if Cloud is…no. Hojo wouldn't do that. No way he'd sacrifice one of his precious 'specimens' over the death of some pathetic thug. _That didn't make it any easier to sleep though because while he had decided Cloud was undoubtedly alive, he was also sure he was suffering. That was one way to put it.

Down in the dark, dingy D-Wing, Cloud hadn't stopped shivering since the showering the day before. He hadn't slept, hadn't stopped wishing to God he'd just pass out from the pain and mental exhaustion. He was too tired to even think. Through the night his mind just kept going over and over the scenario that had played out with Vallow. He couldn't get the expression on his face as his life was gushing from him out of his head. But now, he couldn't even manage the strength to conjure images up in his mind. He felt sick and his head ached harshly. For the first time since the whole nightmare of imprisonment began he actually longed to be encased in the glass cylinder in the lab. He'd accept any amount of mako willingly, just so he could be submerged in the warmth of the water that went along with it.

Finally, that time came. When morning arrived, the cell door's hinges whined as the door was opened. Against the dim light of the hallway Cloud could make out Doner's silhouette. He approached Cloud, taking him down from the chain holding him suspended and supporting him when he nearly collapsed, his legs too weak and numb to hold his weight. He removed Cloud's cuffs so he could put Cloud's left arm around his neck to keep him upright while they headed for the lab. Cloud stumbled more than once and he hissed in breaths against the pain in his back and shoulders as they made their way down the long hall.

When they entered the lab, all faces turned toward them momentarily. Dr. Marsh was collecting blood samples from Zack while Hojo was going over some notes in a folder and the lab assistants were preparing the mako treatment. Only Marsh and Zack continued to stare as Doner led Cloud to the chair next to Zack's.

Zack felt sick as he watched his friend being brought in. He was incredibly pale and quite obviously exhausted to the point at which he barely had enough strength to keep his head up let alone walk. He caught a glimpse of the bright red lines marking his back as Doner lowered him into the empty chair. He recalled the pain of his own cropping easily. While he had been left with wounds, they hadn't been as numerous or as angry looking as Cloud's, making him think Hojo must have ordered Cloud's cropping be more fierce. That or the goon delivering it was a friend of Vallow's and was taking his anger out. That was unlikely because even the goons seemed to have hated Vallow.

"Hey, buddy," Zack said to him quietly, hesitant on asking how he was doing. It would have been a rather rhetorical question so he withheld it. Cloud acknowledged him with only a tweak in his expression.

Marsh moved over to Cloud as she finished taking blood samples from Zack. She noticed that despite his unusually pale complexion, his cheeks were quite red. She placed her hand on his forehead, feeling his hot skin on her palm. She called to one of the assistants to retrieve a white case from the table nearby. From the case she took a device for taking temperature which she held in Cloud's right ear for 30 seconds before checking to see the results.

"102.4," she read aloud, her eyes widening. "Sir, C4 has a significantly high temperature," she said to Hojo who was busy with his notes.

"He'll be fine, doctor," Hojo mumbled in response without looking up. Marsh was frozen with the device still in her hand, not sure if she should press on.

"But…sir, if he undergoes the mako treatment and his temperature rises even a few degrees higher—"

"Thank you, doctor, I'll take that into consideration as we proceed," he cut her off. She shook her head in annoyance, setting the device aside and moving on to taking blood samples from Cloud.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him. He didn't care. He just wanted to feel that warm water around him.

As irony would have it, in an attempt to keep his fever under control, Hojo had the temperature of the water in his cylinder lowered to about room temperature which was far from a comforting temperature. He took unusually deep breaths of the mako vapor in spite of Hojo and the whole fucked up situation, forcing it to fill his lungs to full capacity. He fought hard against the urge to cough it out. It could have been for this reason that early on in the treatment he started to feel dizzier than usual. He felt like he was becoming separated from his body, not feeling anything. Sounds seemed more hollow and farther away, colors seemed to fade to black and white. Soon, all he was aware of was his heart beating rapidly against his chest.

Zack could just faintly make out one of the monitors in the room going off, a furious beeping alerting the lab assistants. They turned toward Cloud's tank before one of them went running from the lab. The motion then Zack saw from the corner of his eye brought his attention to his friend to see him in convulsions, his body seizing silently, creating a thousand tiny bubbles that swirled around him. He watched helplessly, his hands against the glass of his cylinder. Marsh entered the lab then, rushing toward Cloud.

"Cut the mako feed!" she shouted. Hojo would be sorry he was missing this. He had left for a board meeting not long ago. "Get him out of there!" Marsh demanded then, moving to one of the supply cabinets where she retrieved a syringe and bottle of liquid. By then, the assistants had drained the water from the tube and Cloud was crumpled against the floor of it, his body still seizing. The tube was opened and the assistants struggled to pull him out and onto the floor where Marsh commanded them to hold him while she injected the liquid from the syringe into his arm. After a moment, the convulsions stopped and he lay still. Marsh sought out his pulse then and had the assistants retrieve a gurney. She glanced once at Zack before she and one of the assistants left with Cloud. Zack punched the glass in front of him hard as he watched the lab door close.

It was a ridiculously long wait the next few hours before Zack was brought back to the cell. He scoffed when he entered and found the room already occupied. Cloud was on his back on the floor, an ice pack wrapped in a hand towel on his forehead. Dr. Marsh was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to him.

"Ain't that a picture?" Zack commented. Marsh glared at him, not interested in his humor.

"Hojo wouldn't let me keep him in the med sector so I'm monitoring him here," she explained harshly, though her tone was directed at Hojo, not Zack.

"Heh. You're gonna get yourself fired, you know that right?" Zack asked, sitting himself down on the floor at Cloud's head.

"It's seeming to be the inevitable these days," she muttered, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.

"How's he doing?"

"Could be better. His fever is still dangerously high. It was at 105 when he went into convulsions in the lab. It's down to 103.2 now."

Zack nodded, lifting the icepack on Cloud's head momentarily to pull back some of his blond hair matted down to his forehead.

"I saw what he did to Vallow," Marsh said then. Zack made no response. "Did Vallow—"

"No," Zack interrupted her hastily then shook his head. "I don't know. I'm afraid to ask."

"I'd never have thought Cloud capable of what he did," she commented quietly.

"Yeah…"

Marsh clearly had no idea what had gone on between Vallow, Zack, and Cloud and he wanted it to stay that way. He wanted that nightmare to die with Vallow and never be brought up again. Sadly, he knew he had to question Cloud about what had happened before he killed Vallow. He needed to know.

"I'm worried about Cloud being left alone while you are undergoing fitness training," Marsh said then, changing the subject.

"That's real comforting, doc," Zack said sarcastically.

"Sorry. I'm sure he'll be fine, I just wish I could stay to monitor him."

"You really gotta stop this, doc."

"Stop what?"

"Treating us like your patients in some general hospital. Seriously. It's too hard to take."

"Well I can't just do nothing," she protested.

"No, but having you care and knowing that it makes no difference is like torture," Zack explained.

"I just want to help," Marsh said quietly, staring down at Cloud.

"Then help us and yourself by doing the job you were hired for."

They held each others gaze silently for a few moments before the door to the room was opened and lunch was brought in. The doctor rose to her feet, straightening herself and adjusting her lab coat. "I'll see you in a little while," she said to Zack before making her way from the cell.

Zack sighed in exasperation. Honestly, he appreciated that the doctor wanted to help them but the fact that she couldn't made her useless. All she did was make them feel bad for themselves, make them wish to God something would change and she would help them escape their misery. It was too hard.

000

It had been difficult for Zack to leave Cloud alone in the room while he was marched off to the Tread Room but he had no choice. The testing seemed to take forever. In actuality, it was quite long. The entire time it took, adding in the hydration time and prep was about four to four and a half hours. Despite how tired he was, Zack couldn't have walked quicker back to the cell, nervous about seeing the state of his friend. To his surprise, though also to his relief, Cloud had barely moved since he left. The only thing changed was that he had at some point turned onto his stomach, his arms close to his body trying to keep him warm as he shivered unconsciously.

Zack sauntered to him, sitting himself down next to him and placing a hand on his face to see how warm he was feeling. Fortunately, it felt as though his temperature had gone down, if only a few degrees. His heart ached then as his eyes travelled to the wounds left on Cloud's back from the cropping he'd been given. They were so red and so blistered, some even still edged in a little drying blood from the skin being stretched and pulled open wider in the open air.

Cloud stirred then, making a few quiet sounds as he approached wakefulness. His eyes fluttered open and he glanced up at Zack who gave him a small smile. He inhaled and exhaled deeply then, closing his eyes before speaking.

"What's up?" he questioned tiredly. Zack snorted.

"Not much. How ya feelin'?" Zack replied then.

"Cold. And like I've been lying buried under a heap of rocks…Something tells me I didn't make it through the whole treatment this morning," he said as he turned onto his side, crossing his arms over his chest trying to keep his body's heat from leaving him.

Zack shook his head. "I'm sure you're real disappointed," he added with a laugh.

"Terribly," Cloud agreed with a smirk that faded rather quickly to be replaced with an expression of slight pain. "Man…I really feel like shit though. My head's killing me…"

"Probably 'cause it's been acting like an oven for most of the day. I'm surprised you aren't brain dead by now." Cloud didn't answer, just closed his eyes against the light of the room. "You took a lot of hell for what happened, eh?" Zack questioned uneasily.

"Heh…it's worth it to never see _him_ again," Cloud answered still with his eyes shut.

Zack nodded, even though Cloud couldn't see it. He chewed his lower lip nervously before asking the question he'd dreaded for days. "Cloud…" he began slowly. Cloud looked up at him questioningly. Zack continued. "Before you…took Vallow out…d-did anything else happen? I mean, did Vallow—"

"No," Cloud interjected softly but firmly. "No way in hell was I letting it go that far."

Zack was relieved but knew he had a little more to worry about than that. The next question was sitting at the tip of his tongue. "Are you okay with what happened?" he asked tentatively.

Cloud exhaled heavily before answering without looking at him. "Not really. But what choice was there? It's not like you could do anything about it. Not when Hojo is controlling you through me. I know if I tell you to forget about Hojo's threats you won't listen anyway. And I'm not gonna let you hurt yourself for me. It's not worth it."

Sadly, Cloud was right. It hadn't been worth it. Sure, he had managed to keep Vallow away from Cloud for a while but what he did inevitably hurt Cloud because he was the reason for what Zack did and knew it. His choice made Cloud do something that he would undoubtedly feel guilty about and led to the same punishment he probably would have gotten if Zack had just kicked Vallow's ass to begin with. Maybe worse. In Fact, if Zack had just acted on impulse like he ordinarily would have and given Vallow a beating when he first noticed him acting like a creep both Cloud and himself would have suffered a lot less mental anguish and shame and there would have been far less blood shed and guilt.

"I'm sorry, Spike," Zack responded at last. "I really fucked things up for you and me. I ended up hurting you, and that kills me. I'd give anything to go back." He stared down at his hands, trying not to let his emotions get ahead of him.

"Fuck that," Cloud replied. "It's done. And I'll be damned if some fat pervert is going to screw up our friendship."

Zack looked at him and he smiled a little.

"You're somethin' else, kid," Zack said then as he shook his head.

000

Both Zack and Cloud were brought for mako treatment that evening, despite what had happened to Cloud in the morning. Hojo refused to have any more 'unnecessary set-backs' in his project. Marsh was standing by just in case Cloud had a similar episode to the one earlier. His fever had gone down significantly since the morning. He was at 99.8 when brought to the lab that night. Fortunately, there was no repeat of what had happened hours earlier. Zack and Cloud were waiting eagerly for the mako feed to be cut so they would be free from the vapor that burned like acid to breathe. They noticed the assistants glancing to their watches more than once in the same minute and that was the indication that the treatment was almost finished.

Zack held his breath as one of the assistants marched to the keypad by his tube and began punching in a code. A moment later the air mask detached from his face and the water began to filter out through the bottom of the cylinder like usual. He stood weakly, also as usual, gripping the glass and waiting to be released. Only when he was out of the tube and being led to the lab door did he realize something was different. Normally, both his and Cloud's cylinders were drained at the same time but Cloud was still submerged in water, the air mask still over his face. He could tell Cloud was as confused as he was. He had his hands on the glass of his tube, his eyes darting back and forth between Zack and the assistants. Zack tried to tell himself they were just waiting until he was back in the cell before releasing Cloud but in the back of his mind he knew that was wrong.

Cloud watched as Zack was led out of the lab. _What's going on?_ he thought as the assistants seemed to be making no indication that they were about to cut his mako feed and release him. Dr. Marsh at least looked a little confused suggesting he was not the only one out of the loop. She approached Hojo.

"Professor?"

"What is it?" Hojo asked from his desk.

"Is C4 not finished treatment?" she inquired as she looked back over her shoulder at Cloud.

"No. He has time to make up from this morning."

Marsh was shocked. She stopped herself from questioning Hojo further or giving him her opinion. She knew he wouldn't listen anyway. She went back to her spot by the monitors, glancing at Cloud briefly. He knew then it would be a long time before he would be released from his tube. It was a giant blow to his mentality. It took so much to keep strong through the treatments and to bear the pain. Near the end, the only thing that really made it bearable was knowing that it was almost over. Now he felt a little panicked. He had already felt sick and in pain before even beginning the treatment. His head had been pounding fiercely and he was still shivering from the deep cold he felt. He just wanted to sleep.

At the end of the first hour of extended treatment, Cloud experienced something he hadn't before. He began to hallucinate. He knew it was a hallucination but it was so damn real he was almost convinced that the dark-haired girl was actually there.

"Why did you leave me to die, Cloud?" the Tifa form asked sadly. He looked down to see he was no longer in the glass cylinder in the lab. Instead, he was standing in the middle of a burning wheat field in Nibelheim. Tifa stood in front of him. There was a large gash in her stomach that was soaking her clothing in blood. Her face and bare arms were covered in ash.

Cloud shook his head slowly. "No. Tifa, that's not what I did—"

"You left me all alone…bleeding, dying," she continued, not letting him explain.

"I was going to come back for you, Teef," he spoke in a pleading voice. He watched Tifa fall to her knees on the ground and crouched down quick to grab her shoulders as her head fell limp. "Teef!" he called to her, shaking her lightly.

Suddenly, her hands flew up and grabbed his face on either side. She raised her head and Cloud gasped in horror. It was no longer Tifa in front of him. Her eyes had transformed from brown to an icy grayish-green and her dark hair became silver. He was no longer looking at his dear friend. He was looking at his childhood hero and newly found nightmare. Sephiroth. His lips curled into an eerie smile.

"Sephiroth…" he uttered in dreaded awe.

"You haven't gotten rid of me, Cloud," the general spoke evenly. "Forever I'm going to haunt you. I will _always _be a part of you."

"_No_…" Cloud protested at a whisper. "This isn't real…"

"If this were not real, would you feel this?" Sephiroth challenged as he dug his fingers hard into the sides of Clouds head, bringing a loud howl of pain from him as he felt like his skull was being crushed. The man's long fingers dug so hard into his flesh that they drew blood. Cloud shut his eyes tightly and ground his teeth together. When the pain began to dissipate he heard laughter coming from somewhere. He opened his eyes to find himself submerged in darkness. In the distance there was a light and a silhouette that seemed to be getting closer. He squinted hard to make out the form. It wasn't until the person was right in front of him that he realized who it was and his stomach clenched hard.

"You're in big trouble, little bitch," spoke the guard that Zack had killed. Cloud could see he had a vertical gash in his forehead made from the combat knife that had been thrown at him. He held the bloody knife in his right hand, swinging it as he came toward Cloud who realized suddenly he was suspended in the Hanger. The guard smirked, anticipation and excitement heavy in his eyes as he brought the knife close to Cloud's throat.

Hojo, Marsh, and the lab assistants were all staring at Cloud in his tube, flailing madly, terror in his eyes, as if he was fighting off a beast.

"Should we stop the treatment?" Marsh questioned nervously.

"No," Hojo responded firmly. "He's only hallucinating."

Marsh watched Hojo for a few moments noticing how utterly fascinated he appeared to be. What he seemed to be so fascinated by, as his eyes darted from the monitors to Cloud, was how steady Cloud's heart rate and blood pressure seemed to be despite how obvious it was that Cloud was in distress.

Marsh realized then that Cloud was screaming into the air mask on his face. It was heavily suppressed by the air mask on his face but she could definitely make it out. He thrashed hard, his hands, elbows, and knees crashing into the glass around him. As she turned her eyes back to Hojo and saw his expression she felt a shiver run down her spine. She had learned to read his expressions fairly well over the time she'd worked for him and this one she knew well. It was the expression that said he had just thought of a new test for his subjects…


	17. Chapter 17

_Hey Guys!! I am back! Man, after a long fight with internet and phone people I am back online and my gift to you all for your patience is two chapters! I'm part way through a third so I shall probably have that out in a few days :D_

_Thank you a million times over to all who read and reviewed the last chapter! I enjoyed writing it and y'all seemed to like it which made me very happy! That's pretty much all I got to say for now I think. So without further ado..._

Read on!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Final Fantasy-esque.

Chapter XVII

Zack had done his best to stay awake after the mako treatment but it was a losing battle. The treatment was too much for anyone to handle. The only times he and Cloud were able to remain awake and composed were when they were given injections of Whip directly after. So, despite the terrible worry he was feeling over Cloud not being brought back to their cell when he was, he found himself unable to keep his eyes open for more than an hour. Instead, he slipped into an uneasy sleep fraught with nightmares. Before he and Cloud had been hidden away in the Shinra basement he had rarely ever had a bad dream. Now, it was very rare for him to go a night without at least one. Both Zack and Cloud had witnessed each other in a nightmare-state of sleep and neither of them really dared to question the other about it. It was something that just seemed unspeakable.

As lost as he was in the realm of unpleasant dreams, it didn't take much to bring Zack back into the world. He startled at the mere sound of the door clicking open and raised his head to see Cloud finally being brought in. He was either unconscious or had been sedated. It was difficult to know. Either way, he was not responsive. As difficult as it was to muster the strength, Zack pulled himself up to get his friend dried and dressed. It was becoming evident that the seasons had been changing and it was getting colder outside. While it was normally like a refrigerator down there, it didn't take a genius to know it was going to get a hell of a lot colder come winter time. If anyone was going to be affected by that it would be Cloud. The time he had spent in the Hanger seemed to have done a number on his health. No doubt _that_, coupled with his mental state, was leaving him open to illness. A simple touch of his skin revealed the hint of fever that had been lingering.

If there was anything that would make their lives more miserable at that point it would be a cold or the flu. Something trivial as sickness was not likely to hold Hojo back from progressing in his 'project.' Zack shuddered at the thought of having to battle Turks or run on a treadmill while sick with a cold.

Sitting back against the wall, Zack watched Cloud for a moment as he lay still, breathing slow. He figured he may as well let himself go back to sleep because after the ridiculously long treatment Cloud had been given he was not likely to stir during the rest of the night. Boy, was he wrong. A few hours later, Zack bolted upright to the sound of Cloud screaming. He blinked hard, trying to clear the blur away as he looked on at his friend who was clawing furiously at his own torso.

"Cloud!" he called to him as he pulled himself over and gripped his one arm. "Cloud, wake up!" He gripped his shoulders and shook him but he continued to scream. It was like he was stuck inside his dreamworld. "CLOUD!" he shouted close to his ear. He stopped screaming then, his eyes snapping open as he shot upwards. Zack held onto him. "Easy, kid!" he said as he tried to ground him, bring him back to reality.

"Zack?" Cloud said his name barely above a whisper as he panted and as tears began welling up in his eyes.

"Yeah, it's alright, you're okay," Zack assured him softly. Cloud burst into tears then, lowering his head and putting his hands to his face. Zack observed him painfully, aching with sympathy. Whatever he'd been dreaming about must have been worse than anything before it. "It's okay, Spikey," he tried to reassure him as he placed a hand on the back of his head and pulled him toward him. There were plenty of times that Zack had grabbed onto Cloud in the past and embraced him like a brother or best friend would but never had Cloud ever wrapped his arms around Zack and really hugged him back. He did so now, squeezing Zack tightly and gripping the material of his shirt at his back in his fists. He cried into his shoulder openly. Zack had a hard time keeping himself from breaking down over how bad he felt for his friend. He wanted to be able to do something to fix the situation but he didn't know how. He held onto Cloud as long as he needed to be held onto and kept telling him it was just a bad dream and it was over now. He wasn't sure it really helped at all.

After a few minutes, Cloud finally let go of Zack and pulled back, wiping the lines of tears from his face. "Okay, kid?" Zack questioned, still with one hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. Cloud nodded slightly, taking some uneasy breaths and staring down at the floor. "What were you dreaming about?" he asked then, feeling an urgent need to know what could have caused such a burst of emotion from his friend. Cloud closed his eyes tight and shook his head. "Come on, Spike, you gotta tell me," Zack insisted.

"Zack…" Cloud spoke in a broken tone. He stared up at him, looking very near to breaking into sobs again. "I can't." There was so much effort and pain in his voice and it was almost like he was pleading for Zack to not push him to explain. It was heart-wrenching.

"Okay," Zack said quietly, nodding. It took all his self-control to hold himself back from pressing the issue further but he held back for the simple reason that he could see how much it hurt Cloud to think about it.

Now that several minutes had passed, the scratches Cloud had given himself as he clawed at his own arms were becoming evident as red lines on pale white skin. He didn't give Zack a chance to comment on them before he pulled himself to his feet weakly and headed for the bathroom where he washed his face in cold water. Zack waited for him to come back out into the room but realized after about ten minutes that he had no intention of leaving the bathroom. He could almost see him, as if the wall wasn't blocking his view, sitting on the tile with his legs drawn up and his forehead resting on his arms.

000

The following day went as usual, combat testing, followed up by replenishment. Cloud remained very quiet through the day. Quieter than usual. There were several times when he seemed to be lost in another world, staring off into space, unmoving. While most of his day was spent in a daydream he experienced a rude awakening later on when replenishment came to an end. As they stood in their cylinders waiting to be released and taken back to their cell, he and Zack noticed Hojo and his assistants preparing the examination table and various pieces of equipment on several trays. They exchanged nervous glances. Dr. Marsh entered the lab along with what appeared to be a surgeon. Hojo instructed one of the assistants to retrieve Zack then.

Zack stared down at his feet in dread as the sedative began to seep up into his cylinder. He banged on the glass demanding to know what was going to happen but was ignored. Cloud didn't have to wonder. He was about to find out because he was about to witness it.

The assistants laid Zack out on the examination table on his stomach. Marsh injected him with something and the surgeon began putting on a set of rubber gloves. As the surgeon then fiddled with the instruments laid out on the trays next to the table, Marsh went about attaching a few sensors to Zack's body so that his vitals could be monitored. Cloud felt his own heart beating hard against his chest as he watched anxiously, not knowing what to expect.

The surgeon began by shaving a small patch of hair from the base of the back of Zack's head. He cleaned the area with iodine. Cloud's stomach twisted seeing him then take hold of a scalpel to make an incision on the bare patch of skin. The surgeon passed the scalpel off to one of the assistants then and reached for something Cloud couldn't make out. All he could see was that it was small and circular. The surgeon inserted it into the incision in Zack's skin and then proceeded with stitching the incision closed once again. The procedure was repeated twice more, on either side of Zack's head a little further back from his temples. The entire operation took less than an hour and while seemingly minor left Cloud with a lot of unease over its unexplained purpose. He knew as Zack was taken from the lab that he was next. He found himself backing up against the glass of his tube as if that would save him from the sedation gas that invaded the space around him. Just as he knew would happen, he found himself slipping into unconsciousness in mere moments.

When Cloud awoke next on the floor of the cell he didn't see Zack but could hear him in the bathroom, breathing steadily as he stared into the mirror on the wall and inspected the areas on his head where blue stitching could be seen. It wasn't too long before Zack emerged from the bathroom and upon seeing Cloud awake began throwing questions his way.

"What the hell did they do to us, Spikey? Did you see?" he asked urgently.

"I-I saw but I don't know what they did—I mean I know but I don't know why they did it," Cloud struggled to explain.

"What did they do?"

"They inserted some _things_…I don't know what they are."

"How many? What did they look like?"

"There was three. One on either side of the head and one at the back. They were small…like a dime maybe. Circular. But that's all I could really see."

Zack stood silent for a moment, running his hand through his hair and fingering the spot at the back of his head where one of the incisions had been made. He shook his head then. "Man. I gotta bad feeling about this, Spikey," he said lowly.

He had every reason to be suspicious, especially when no one came to collect them for their usual mako testing in the morning. It didn't ease his and Cloud's nerves any that no food was brought for them either. The suspense was terrible and it was quick to make them irritable.

"What do you think Hojo's got planned?" Zack asked, not for the first time, as he was doing push-ups in the centre of the room.

"For the millionth time, I have no idea," Cloud responded with an exaggerated sigh.

"Whatever it is, it's gonna suck I bet."

"No shit," Cloud commented under his breath.

"You think it'll hurt?"

Cloud huffed. "Do you really want to talk about this?"

"Well, I dunno. Not really, but I gotta talk about something!"

Cloud shook his head and went back to staring off into nothingness. There was a heavy silence for a few minutes while Zack wrestled with his conscience over the questions wracking his brain. Questions not just surrounding the uncertainty of what was to come but questions concerning Cloud's nightmares. He knew what would come of asking Cloud about them but he also knew it was important that he ask.

"Hey," he spoke up at last, "You have any more nightmares since the other night?" He sat back on the tile and looked over at his friend who sat cross-legged against the back wall. He didn't meet eyes with Zack.

"Would you believe me if I said 'no'?" Cloud questioned as he straightened his legs and rubbed the stiffness out of one of his knees.

"Of course not," Zack said with a smirk. Cloud made a 'there you go' gesture with his one hand. "You know, Spike, you aren't the only one whose been having bad dreams."

"I know," Cloud said firmly, surprising Zack a little. Zack, like Cloud, liked to imagine his friend as oblivious to that fact.

"Well um, you know dreams have a way of eating you up inside and turning your fears into reality…It's not something you should deal with alone."

"You do," Cloud retorted. Zack sighed.

"I wasn't screaming and tearing at my own skin in my sleep." Cloud crossed his arms and looked away, shaking his head. Zack waited for Cloud to say something. Getting no response he pushed further. "I don't like seeing you hurting, kid—"

"I'm fine!" Cloud snapped, though not really meaning his words to come out as harshly as they did. Zack stared at him hard, watching his expression soften once again and a look of shame come over him. He was about to speak when the activation of the keypad outside their room drew their attention to the door. Doner and one of the other goons, Tyson, entered and indicated that Zack and Cloud were to come with them.

They were headed for the D-Wing. They were sat down in their usual chairs in the lab but unlike the many times before, the assistants proceeded to strap them down, bringing back the painful memories from when they were first undergoing the mako injections. It was so long ago, yet seemed like yesterday. They had been stripped of their shirts before being strapped down and Dr. Marsh was soon attaching several sensors to their chests and backs. Small devices were attached to their index fingers that Hojo explained to the assistants measured galvanic skin response. He rambled off something about how they measured stress or something to that effect. Both Zack and Cloud were too wrapped up in their own thoughts to really catch everything Hojo was going on about.

"Are the specimens prepped, doctor?" Hojo questioned Marsh then who gave a short nod in response. "Good. Bring the transmitters over," he directed one of the assistants. A moment later, the assistant approached Zack and Cloud holding two of what closely resembled the helmets worn by troops in the Shinra Militia. But that was just it. They only _resembled_ them. There were obvious differences.

"Aw, what the hell?" Zack questioned aloud, staring at the headgear.

"Come now, Z1, I think you may actually enjoy what is to come," Hojo mused.

"Oh yeah?" Zack asked in mock wonderment. "And what is it that's going to happen? You going to commit suicide here in front of us? Well sure, I'd enjoy that…just not as much as I'd love killing you myself."

"Hmph, sorry to disappoint, Z1," Hojo responded, hiding a sour expression.

"Well, one can hope," Zack said through a wide grin.

"Well, I was going to take the time to explain a little bit of what is in store for you but on second thought I think we might as well skip the chase and just get to business."

"Fantabulous," Zack said with fake excitement. One of the assistants stood behind him with one of the 'transmitters' and upon Hojo's signal he lowered it onto Zack's head. In a split second his eyes and ears were covered and he was in complete darkness. What would normally have been a shaded visor was completely dark and impossible to see through. There was foam attached to the bottom of the visor that sat against his cheeks, cutting out any light that would normally have come up from the bottom. There was a similar foam that cradled both his ears, blocking out all sound outside the helmet. There was something strangely frightening about the helmet though it seemed non-threatening. Perhaps it was that in one second a person could be cut off from the rest of the world. Even when he spoke he could not hear his own voice.

Suddenly, he felt a pressure at the back of his head and then at the sides. It was like those places were being drawn to the insides of the helmet through powerful magnets. For all he knew, that was the truth. Some_ things _had been implanted in his and Cloud's heads and they had no idea what they were or what their purpose was. At this point, Zack assumed their purpose was to give him a headache. He waited anxiously for what would happen next. He could feel his pulse in his temples.

He felt himself startle all of a sudden when within a blink of his eyes he found himself standing in the ruins of a city. He blinked a few more times in shock. _No fucking way…_ he thought to himself as he cast his gaze around the wreckage in front of him. It wasn't the sight in front of him that had him in utter shock, it was the fact that all indications that he was strapped down to a chair in Hojo's lab with a heavy helmet over his head were non-existent. He was free to move, any which way he wished. There was no visor in front of him, his eyes were unblocked, but what left him in utter awe was how his senses were suddenly bombarded with things he had not felt for months. He could smell the smoke that drifted off the ruins toward him and felt it sting his eyes a little before he blinked it away. He could even feel the wind as it ran through his hair, pulling at it gently. He could feel the heat of a dying fire and the rocky ground under his feet. It was unbelievable.

He had gone through a lot of simulated training in SOLDIER but it was never quite like this. A simulation was still a simulation. _This…is scary_, he thought to himself. He took a few steps forward, expecting to feel restrained but he didn't. He moved easily, stepping over pieces of broken concrete. He caught glimpses of personal belongings. Picture frames, dinner plates…

_What the hell happened here?_ he wondered then scolded himself for actually questioning the situation. _Nothing happened here idiot, this isn't real. _A shrill scream ran into him then, sending shivers up and down his spine. He didn't hesitate before running off in the direction it came from. Real or not, he wanted to know who was screaming and why. Running down what used to be a city block he nearly collided with a small child as she came racing around a corner towards him. He skidded to a halt and she barreled into him, knocking the wind out of him. He grabbed her shoulders instinctively to prevent her from falling back onto the broken pavement but let go fast, freaked out by the way she looked and felt so real. There was another loud scream from very close by and the little girl looked up at Zack fearfully, tears streaming down her ash-covered face as she grabbed for his one arm.

"Please mister," she cried, "help my mommy, please!" Zack stared back at her and shook his head slow.

"No, this isn't real, it's just a program…" he said quietly to himself, though he was not able to keep himself for showing sympathy for the child in front of him.

"Please!" the girl cried harder. "It's _killing_ her!"

Whether it was rational or not, Zack couldn't stand there any longer with the little girl sobbing in front of him. "Okay, where is she?" he asked finally and she gripped his hand tightly and began pulling him quickly back the way she had come. As they neared the place where her mother supposedly was he could hear cries of pain and loud sobbing. They ducked through some fallen pieces of support beams that were wedged in between the remains of two buildings and continued through a narrow alley. He knew by the little girl's terror-filled expression that her mother was just around the corner. He pulled her back and told her to stay there and wait before moving to the mouth of the alley and peeking out around the corner.


	18. Chapter 18

_Okay, guys, so I'm an idiot hahah! I definitely submitted this chapter to my documents but didn't actually add it as a chapter to the story hahaha! XD Yeah. I'm sorta a dumbass sometimes. So yeah, NOW you may have the next chapter lol. _

_Disclaimer: Final Fantasy not mine. _

Chapter XVIII

He had seen a lot of creatures and beasts in his time in SOLDIER but never anything like that. Crouched on four legs it was big enough, on two legs it would probably have towered around eight feet. Its body structure was awkward, as if it was not meant to walk on all fours. If Zack didn't know any better he'd say it had the grotesquely misshapen form of a human but with giant, hairy feet and hands that ended in fierce claws. Its back and shoulders were enlarged into a giant hump covered in what looked to be large sores. Its head, in relation to its body was small, with a largely protruding forehead and lower jaw. From the profile, that's all Zack could really make out. Lying on the ground in front of the monster was a young woman, her clothes barely covering her in bloody shreds as she tried desperately to crawl away. She gripped a small dagger in her one hand.

Zack looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon. The only thing he could find in the rubble was a piece of metal piping about five feet long and two and half inches in diameter. Telling the girl to stay put once more he stepped out in view of the monster. It didn't notice him until he called out.

"HEY! Fugly bitch!" Zack called loudly, walking toward the beast confidently. It turned to face him, giving him a good view of its face. It only had one eye, in place of the other was an empty socket. The teeth on its lower jaw barely fit in its mouth and it was obvious that it spent a great deal of time chewing on its own mouth, probably by accident. The monster looked at Zack like some annoyance he could just stomp out and get rid of quickly. Zack loved to be underestimated, just so he could surprise the hell out of his opponent when they found out how good he really was. He worked the pipe in his hands like a bowstaff.

There was a brief moment when they stood face to face. The beast grumbled and some saliva ran from the side of its mouth.

"That's just precious," Zack commented sarcastically. "Let's get this done droolface," he said as he motioned for the beast to come at him. It wasted no time. It leapt at him, swinging an arm at the same time. Zack rolled to the side easily then jumped up for a diagonal slash. The pipe struck the monster's hump, bursting into a few of the sores on its back. They oozed a green pus that Zack looked at with disgust. "You just keep gettin' prettier by the second," he remarked.

The beast swiped at him again and he jumped back to miss it before jabbing at its chest, bringing forth a low howl from the monster. The beast turned fast and hammered into Zack with its massive shoulder sending him stumbling back. He recovered quickly and gripped the pipe in his hand tightly.

"That's it, enough messin' around," Zack muttered through clenched teeth. He looked over his shoulder to see the beast coming toward him. Turning fast he gathered all his strength and launched the pipe down the monster's throat. The beast stepped back, gagging and choking on the pipe, trying to pull it from its mouth. Zack didn't give it a chance. He grabbed the dagger from the young woman and rushed back to stab the monster hard and deep in its eye. It was the deadly blow Zack was looking for and the monster fell forward, collapsing in the dirt, the pipe still protruding from its mouth.

He returned to the young woman hurriedly but it was too late. She stared wide-eyed toward the sky, frozen in time. Slowly, Zack put his hand over her eyes and closed them softly as he heard someone running toward them. The woman's daughter. The child cried out for her mother as she approached, yet the agony in her voice suggested she knew her mother was already gone. She dropped to the ground on her knees and sobbed, trying to pull her mother's body into a sitting position while she embraced her. Zack sat back, watching painfully, not knowing what to say or do. _This isn't right_, he said to himself. _Why is Hojo doing this?_

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of approaching footfalls. There were many. It sounded like a group of maybe thirty or forty headed in their direction. By the way they came in unison he knew it had to be military. He jumped to his feet fast, picking up the little girl and taking cover behind a barrier of broken concrete. He held his one hand over the girl's mouth to keep her quiet as he heard the marching soldiers enter the area and move past them down the road. He turned his head once they passed to see if he could catch a glimpse of who they were. He didn't recognize the uniforms, which was odd. The girl pried his hand from her mouth and looked up at him.

"They're the ones who attacked the city," she said in a weak and shaky voice.

"Who are they?" he questioned and she shook her head. He exhaled forcefully as he tried to decide where they should go. "Stay quiet," he told the girl as he lifted her up and carried her into another narrow alleyway. The place was a mess. The city must have undergone heavy bombing before ground forces were brought in. There were several times that Zack found himself faced with a dead end made of rubble and was forced to backtrack. Coming up to the mouth of another alleyway he stopped when he thought he heard voices. He backed up and against the one wall, hoping the shadows would hide him enough. Two armed troopers marched past the alley. Neither looked in. A few moments later, it appeared that the coast was clear.

"HEY!"

That one word filled Zack from head to toe with dread as he looked up in the direction it had come to see a trooper looking down at him from the roof of the building at his back. "Hang on!" he commanded the little girl as he took off out of the alley. She had her arms wrapped around his neck and gripped it tightly as he ran. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the two passing troops from a few moments ago headed after him. He entered the wreckage of a factory and moved as quick as he could through the darkness. He got caught on something sharp and pulled through it, feeling it shred his shirt sleeve and the skin of his right upper arm. Gritting his teeth, he kept moving, stumbling a few times on debris. It became hot very suddenly and he could just barely make out clouds of steam ahead. They were in some sort of boiler room. He slowed his pace, knowing that walking into a boiler would be very painful. He could hear the approaching troops behind him, their footsteps echoing after him loudly.

Zack's foot came down on some stray piping then, breaking his balance. To avoid falling he turned and allowed himself to lean back against one of the heaters next to him. The heat was excruciating, even through the material of his shirt. He groaned loudly through clamped teeth and pushed himself away from the heater as he got his footing back. The sound he made seemed to encourage his pursuers to speed up. They carried flashlights, making it easy for them to move around. Zack knew he had to find an exit fast.

As if his wish had put it there, he made out a faint line of light up ahead near the floor. It _had _to be a door. He was relieved it was as he threw his left shoulder against it without stopping, realizing how much it would have hurt if it hadn't been a door, or if it had been locked. He rushed through into a long room filled with textile machinery and lined on both sides with windows. Shots rang out from where he came and he ducked a little lower.

"Keep your head down!" he commanded the girl still gripping to him, terrified. "SHIT!" he exclaimed then as he saw the double doors at the end of the room he was quickly approaching burst open and a group of troops enter, readying their weapons to fire. He had to think fast. He pivoted to the left, leaping onto a desk, not breaking momentum. "HANG ON!" he shouted to the little girl who grasped his neck tighter and hid her face in his chest a second before he kicked his feet up in front of him to break the window ahead of them before he and his small passenger went crashing through it. He shielded the girl with his arms the best he could. When his feet hit dirt he rolled forward on his shoulder, coming to a stop on one knee and about to take off when he found himself face to face with several infantries of troops. He breathed heavily as he took in the sight in front of him. _Figures_, he thought to himself as he realized he'd just crashed right into the congregating area of the invading army. He held onto the girl with one hand while he raised his other as more than a dozen rifles turned his way. A few of the troops surrounded him. He tried to make out what two in front of him were saying as they motioned toward him and then over to a truck nearby where some women where being loaded into the back. The truck was nearly full of women and children, many of whom were crying fearfully. Just then, a troop behind him grabbed onto his free arm, pulling it back behind him. When the troop reached for his other arm he resisted. At the same time, the two troops ahead of him grabbed for the little girl. She screamed frantically and gripped his neck tighter. He tried to hold onto her but the troops were pulling his fingers back so hard they threatened to break. More hands took hold of him, trying to immobilize him. He felt the child's hold on him break then.

"NO!" Zack cried out loudly as the troops gripped his body and pulled him back while the little girl was torn away from him. She sobbed and reached to him with outstretched arms as she was heaved up into the back of the truck with the other women and children. The doors slammed shut and the truck roared to life, driving off quickly, its wheels skidding a little in the mud. Zack watched after the truck, feeling his heart ache a little with dread over what would happen to the little girl now. A fist struck his stomach hard then, knocking the oxygen from his lungs as he leaned forward only to be pulled upright by one of the troops holding onto him. Another fist, or maybe the same one, pummeled the left side of his face twice. Angry voices were shouting at him in a language he didn't understand. Hands pulled at his shirt, lifting it up front and back to see the condition of his body. The troops began kicking at the back of his legs then and pushing him down to the ground where he knelt in the mud. He felt a rifle at his back as the troops raised his arms and positioned his hands behind his head. He held them there and looked up at the officer addressing him. "No, I don't understand you!" he said loudly, interrupting him. Hot pain shot through his back as the butt of a rifle was thrown at it. He fell forward onto his hands but was pulled back roughly, his hands placed back behind his head.

"You understand now?" the officer in front of him asked angrily and Zack nodded. The officer squinted at him. "What?!" he yelled down at him. Again the rifle struck him, this time at the back of his head.

"Yes, I understand!" he said as he was pulled back up, hands back behind his head.

"You in army?" the officer asked.

"SOLDIER," Zack responded firmly. Some of the troops behind him laughed. The officer in front of him crouched down.

"SOLDIER hmmm?" he mused with a smirk. "Well you fight for us now, hmm?"

"No," Zack replied. The smile fell from the officer's face. He struck Zack's right cheek with the back of his hand.

"What you say?" the officer asked, a hint of threat in his voice. Zack could feel the end of the rifle at his back dig in deeper.

"I said no. I will not fight for you," Zack stated firmly, staring into the officer's eyes hard. The officer's dark eyes narrowed at him and they shifted to the troops behind him. In less than a second he received a hard kick to his left kidney. He couldn't stop himself from crying out against the intense pain.

"Then you die with the others," the officer said harshly, turning and walking away. The troops grabbed onto Zack once again, hauling him up and dragging him to a large dugout where a group of a hundred or so men were crowded together. They pushed him in roughly and he fell into some of the other captives, their presence being the only thing that kept him from falling to the ground. He stood, gripping his side with his one hand and watching nervously as an officer came toward the dugout with a torch in his hand. He bent down and lowered the torch to the ground near the edge of the dugout. The area erupted in fire that ran quickly in a line, tracing all the way around the dugout where fuel had been poured. The men in the dugout began to panic then. Suddenly, the troops surrounding the area opened fire. That began the pandemonium. Zack felt himself being collided into from all sides as the men tried furiously to get away. He was hit with a spray of blood as one of the men near him was shot in the face He could see some of the men trying desperately to climb out of the dugout only to be met with fire, their clothes catching before they fell back into the pit. Screams filled the area as more and more of the men were riddled with bullets. As the men grew even more desperate they began using others to shield themselves. Zack found himself being used as such. Two men not much older than him grabbed onto his arms and pulled him onto them, making him into a human tent. He was stronger than them though and pulled himself free of them, backing up and turning away just in time to be hit with another shower of crimson. The smell of it was overwhelming. His luck was about to run out as he felt a bullet rip through his thigh. He cried out in pain and grabbed onto the shoulder of a person nearby to keep himself upright for fear of being trampled if he hit the ground.

A line of bullets came directly his way and the automatic fire he felt in his arm and chest told him he'd been hit again. There was no staying standing this time. He hit the mud below on his side and the body of another fell on top of him. He struggled to breathe, holding a hand over the wound in his chest feeling a pressure he feared meant his lung had been punctured. He lay on his back wheezing, not having enough strength to push the body off that had fallen on him. None of it was real he reminded himself but damn if it didn't feel real. He felt himself dying, running out of air and choking on the blood in his throat. Overhead, troops were throwing torches into the pit to burn the dead and dying. He closed his eyes and expelled his last breath.

After that the oxygen rushed into his lungs easily and the pain began to disappear. He opened his eyes and was staring into darkness. That too disappeared shortly when one of Hojo's lab assistants pulled the transmitter helmet off his head, bringing him back to reality. He took some deep breaths, looking over himself to see that other than being covered in sweat he was unharmed. His wrists were the sorest places on his body, probably because he had been pulling in his restraints. He looked over at Cloud as an assistant removed his helmet. He was panting and his eyes were red, as if he'd been crying. Zack wondered if he had experienced the same constructed reality or if his was different.

Dr. Marsh came over to remove the sensors from bodies. She insisted on shining her penlight in their eyes, which Zack couldn't stand but he was in too much disbelief at the moment to really make an issue over it. The sounds, the blood. It was there. It had been real.

"Specimens are both displaying some minor signs of shock," Marsh relayed to Hojo and his assistants. "Recovery can be expected within a few hours," she added.

"Good," Hojo said, making some notes on a clipboard in his hand. "A very successful test, I think," he added after a moment. "Improvement in vitals should be seen with repeated testing in the near future." The assistants nodded to this, taking down their own notes.

Zack was bubbling with anger. Of everything Hojo had put them through, this was the worst. Playing with their minds, their emotions. Subjecting them to horrors no one should have to see. And not only did he make it possible for them to see it, but to feel it as well. He had invented a new way to make them suffer and he didn't even have to lift a finger.

"And what did my specimens think of their little vacation?" Hojo asked then through wide grin.

Zack and Cloud exchanged glances. They were thinking the same thing. _A vacation? He's calling it a fucking vacation?_

"You're both awfully quiet," he went on. "Well perhaps you just need something a little more stimulating…"

Zack was waiting. He had been debating what he was going to do but when his left ankle was removed from the final restraint there was nothing left to think about. He shot from his seat like a bullet, taking down two assistants in mere seconds. There was a loud crack when he hit the second. The sound of a jawbone breaking. Tyson was after him, reaching for his arm but he caught the goon's first, twisting it back as he threw an uppercut into his nose. That was enough to momentarily deter him while Zack went after Hojo. For a brief moment he got to see what he had longed for. For one brief moment, Hojo's eyes behind his thick glasses filled with fear. It was spectacular. But it was short. Zack just barely caught the collar of Hojo's lab coat in his fingers when a large arm circled round his neck and hauled him back. By then, Tyson had recovered and joined in. It was over but Zack was still furious.

"You're a son of a bitch, Hojo! I'm gonna tear you to fucking pieces when I get my hands on you!" he threatened as he fought hard against the two goons wrestling him back. A third had to step in to help.

"You may want to re-think that, Z1!" he said angrily as he pulled something from his lab coat that resembled a small remote control. He pressed some button and at the other side of the lab Cloud cried out loudly. Zack turned his way quick to see him falling to his knees and gripping the sides of his head. More pained cries escaped him. "I warned you, Z1, that C4 would see consequences for your aggressive actions," Hojo added then, a tight grin forming on his lips.

Zack watched with horror as his friend knelt low on the cold stone floor, clutching his head in agony, his cries becoming louder as the pain intensified. Zack wasn't the only one horrified. Marsh stood nearby with her one hand covering her mouth as she watched in shock.

"STOP!" Zack demanded, pulling against the tight grips of the goons furiously. "HOJO, PLEASE!" He felt hot tears stinging his eyes and his chest tightening in panic.

"Well. Since you asked so nicely," Hojo commented, releasing pressure on the button under his thumb. Cloud's cries ended and were replaced by labored breathing. "Return the specimens to their holding area," the professor commanded then. Doner reached down and grasped Cloud's left upper arm, pulling his trembling body to a stand and leading him out of the lab. The other goons marched Zack out though not all of them were needed. Zack walked along willingly, staring down in shock as they went. He was furious but wasn't about to let that show. He had just been given a very live demonstration of what would happen if he did.

When he entered the cell, Doner was just straightening himself after helping Cloud lower himself to the floor. He gave Zack a reprimanding look before heading past him into the hall, closing the door behind him.

"Oh God, Cloud…" Zack began as he crouched in front of him. "I'm a fucking terrible friend," he said as he shook his head and shut his eyes to keep his emotions from spilling out.

"It's okay, Zack," Cloud said tiredly, watching Zack through blurring vision.

"No it's not. There's no excuse. Hojo warned me once—"

"Screw Hojo," Cloud interrupted. "If you get the chance to kick that asshole's ass then do it. He can punish me all he wants for it. I'll still be laughing."

Zack raised an eyebrow. "Laughing? Really?" he asked with a smirk.

"Well…on the inside anyway," he replied with a weak smile. Zack laughed lightly, sitting himself down next to Cloud. A moment passed and he was serious again. Cloud glanced at him a few times and sighed softly. "Don't blame yourself, okay?" Zack looked at him, not really surprised that Cloud was able to read him. "I'm fine."

Cloud wasn't fine. Zack knew better. And despite Zack agreeing that he would not blame himself he would. Cloud knew better. Hojo had inadvertently come up with a new means of torment and he was successfully driving a nail into their once unbreakable friendship.


	19. Chapter 19

_Hey guys. Gah, I'm a jerk, I should have had this out days ago I know. I came down with some weird flu or something. I'm still not sure what it was but it had me out down and out for quite a few days. But I am back now :D_

_I want to express my utmost thanks and appreciation to all you who reviewed the last few chapters. Your reviews were incredible. I've never asked for reviews in exchange for updates because, honestly, I love writing so much I'd update even if no one read or reveiwed haha! But your reviews mean SO much to me. Your imput motivates me so much! So I hope you continue to provide it. Thanks again, here's the long-awaited update! :D_

_Disclaimer: FF belongs to the lovely people at Square Enix. _

Chapter XIX

With the introduction of the new experimental test, the routine Zack and Cloud had been following for a long time was shattered. They had no idea what they would be put through day after day and even their meals were given to them at such random times that they were always left feeling anxious about what was to come when the door to their cell was opened each time. With no way of knowing what day it was, what month, or whether it was night or day they found themselves stuck in a timeless void where there was always cold and always pain. They questioned whoever they could about such things, specifically the day of the year but they were typically ignored. Zack had managed to get Dr. Marsh to tell him it was November 28th at one point during fitness testing and he'd tried to keep track in his head but found it impossible to do with no indication of the time of day. It felt like weeks had passed since then so their best guess was that it was nearing Christmas.

They had learned to pick up subtle hints that indicated the changing seasons. Sometimes a lab assistant or a goon would come into their cell and their hands and cheeks would be red, like they'd just been out in the cold. A few steps closer and you could almost smell the outside winter air on them. Lately, Dr. Marsh had seemed to carry with her a scent of cinnamon, something that always reminded Zack of the holidays. It was sad but those little things were what they were beginning to cherish because they were the only connections they had left to the outside world.

A good indication of the season, of course, was the change in temperature in their room. It had gotten bitterly cold, the walls and floor feeling like ice to the touch. It was miserable trying to sleep. For weeks, Cloud had been plagued by some sort of illness that Dr. Marsh couldn't seem to figure out. He was left with a constant fever, shaking and muscle weakness. Beyond that, he would break into coughing fits every so often that sometimes had him expelling a fair amount of blood into the toilet or sink. Marsh had been treating him for pneumonia but it seemed to produce few results. When he and Zack would try to sleep, he would usually shake and shiver so bad that he was constantly waking himself up. The one night, Zack couldn't bear to see him shaking like that any longer so he lay himself next to Cloud, at his back, and wrapped his one arm around him, holding him as close to his own body as possible in hopes that his own body heat would help warm Cloud enough so he could sleep.

"Wh-w-hat are you d-do-ing," Cloud had questioned in weak and quivering voice.

"I can't handle watching you shake anymore, it's driving me nuts, kid," Zack explained.

There was a bit of a silence then. After a few minutes, Cloud's shaking had died down to just a normal shiver.

"This is a little weird, Zack," Cloud commented then. Zack scoffed.

"Yeah well. You ain't the girl I wish you were, Spike, but at least you'll be a little warmer."

It became a regular thing for Zack to curl himself around his friend so they could both get a little better sleep, which never ceased to amuse the goons or Rude and Reno on the rare occasions that they showed up. But Zack and Cloud were far beyond caring at that point. There were two things that were always at the forefront of Zack's mind: survival, and keeping Cloud alive. He didn't care about much else.

While their method of rest did enable them to sleep better, it also left them at the mercy of more frequent dreams. Between the hallucinations brought on by mako, the incredibly real simulations of the transmitter helmets in the lab, and their own dreams it was becoming more difficult to know what was reality and what wasn't. It was terrifying. Cloud's hallucinations and dreams seemed to be worse than Zack's, or at least caused him a great deal more stress. It was a nightly occurrence for Zack to be shaken awake by Cloud thrashing in his sleep. He would grip his friend tightly and shout his name to wake him up. Every time it was the same. Zack would ask if he was okay and he'd reply with "Yeah, thanks." Then Zack would ask what he was dreaming about and was met with averted eyes and no reply. He sometimes pressed the issue further but always gave in to Cloud's pleading expression that begged him not to ask.

Cloud had known from the very first day that Hojo had implemented the use of the helmets or 'Hell-huts,' as Zack had dubbed them, what simulation he would eventually be faced with. He didn't know how he knew, he just did. Every so often, Hojo would make comments to him about how he needed to understand how Cloud could have defeated Sephiroth, so with that in mind he had been waiting for the day when he would be faced with a simulation of the fallen general. Still, the anticipation of it could never have prepared him for it. Not a chance in hell.

It was always the same at the beginning. Darkness. Complete silence. And then within a fraction of a second he was thrust into a place where his senses thrived. That was what was bittersweet about the simulations. While with them there was always pain and anguish and terror, there were also all the things he and Zack had had taken away from them: the simple sensations that went along with living. It was reward, and it was punishment all tied up in one and that's what made it torture.

He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, his nostrils were filled with the scent of fire. He opened his eyes then to gaze up at the entrance to his nightmares. The entrance to the Nibelheim reactor. It was exactly as he remembered it. He turned his back on it to face the painful image of his hometown burning to the ground. It was like being back in time, as if he had been given the chance to change his and Zack's fate. If only. He knew that it was all an illusion. Knew that he was actually strapped down in Hojo's lab and that he could try to convince himself all he wanted that he was free when in fact he was anything but.

He turned his eyes on the heavy, widely-open reactor door. He knew what would be waiting inside. He didn't have to go in. Did he? He could just turn away and leave, go back to the town and search for survivors, search for Tifa. She wasn't lying injured at his feet like she had been before. Of course, how could Hojo write Tifa into his demented program when he had no idea who she was or that she existed. But then…that also meant, even if he tried looking for her, he undoubtedly wouldn't be able to find her. A loud cry of pain broke into his thoughts. Zack. This was the part where he was supposed to run in the reactor and save him, to stop Sephiroth's reign of terror. But why should he? _It's not real_, he told himself. _I can't let Hojo keep doing this. He can't keep playing with our minds. _

"I'm not playing your game, you sick bastard," he spoke alloud, staring toward the dark sky. Zack cried out again. And then again. Cloud crouched, putting his fists to his forehead and trying to keep himself calm. "It's not really Zack screaming…" he rationalized.

"PLEASE! STOP—" the simulated Zack pleaded before breaking into another sobbing scream. It sounded so much like him. The hair on Cloud's neck raised with the continued screams and his stomach twisted in guilt. He shut his eyes tightly. He wondered how long it could go on. How long he would have to listen to his friend dying before the program would cut out and the simulation was over.

It wasn't ending. The minutes were passing and Zack's cries went on and on, getting worse and more pleading. He couldn't stand it any longer. He rose to a stand and entered the doorway into the reactor. He took slow but deliberate steps, breathing steadily as he went. It was different than it had been before. Zack's sword wasn't lying at the top of the stairs, nor was Zack collapsed on them and Sephiroth wasn't standing captivated at one of the large tanks. He paused at the top of the stairs and looked down. Zack lay at the bottom on his stomach, Sephiroth was crouched over him, holding his one arm in his hands. He was twisting and bending it slowly but forcefully, making Zack squirm and groan painfully. Suddenly, there was a loud snapping sound and Zack screamed out as a bone in his forearm gave into the pressure and broke. His other arm was already mangled, showing the signs of many other breaks at the hands of the insane general.

One look at the simulated Zack and Cloud could easily forget all about it not being reality. He didn't just _look _like Zack or _seem _like Zack. He _was _Zack. Cloud's nervousness was replaced with anger as he glared down from the stairs. His hands squeezed into fists and he prepared himself for the fight to follow.

"SEPHIROTH!" he shouted from the top of his lungs. The silver-haired head turned his way slow and a smile spread across his face. "Let him go!" Cloud demanded as he began down the stairs.

Sephiroth complied, letting go of Zack's arm and letting it fall at his shaking side. He held his gaze on Cloud, watching him come toward him. Despite the underlying fear Cloud felt, he set it aside as he stepped up within mere feet of the general, staring at him hard, refusing to appear as a weak opponent.

"Do you really wish to fight _me_, boy?" the man questioned with a bemused grin.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Cloud responded firmly. He shifted his eyes to where Zack's buster sword lay near his feet. Despite how discrete he had tried to be, the general knew what he was glancing at and therefore was able to anticipate his next move. Cloud went for the sword, leaping for it but missing as Sephiroth moved quickly to the side and kicked it from his reach. Cloud kicked the general hard in the side in his leg and he dropped down on it for a second before Cloud delivered punch to the side of his face. It knocked his head to the side and Cloud used the opportunity to retrieve Zack's sword.

The general rose to his feet again, his smile still etched across his long face. He watched Cloud with amusement as he readied himself with the heavy blade. Slowly, Sephiroth pulled his own long blade from its sheath strapped to his back.

"This is how you want to play it, hmm?" the tall man questioned. Cloud said nothing. "Very well, your move," he added as he waited for Cloud to strike. Cloud, however, was determined to do no more than he had to in playing into Hojo's games. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow slightly. "No?" He moved his blade to where Zack lay still, seemingly unconscious. He lowered the blade to the skin on his left arm. "Well then perhaps I'll go back to having my fun with your friend," he said as he applied pressure to the blade, cutting into the first few layers of Zack's skin. Cloud took off then, swinging the buster sword upward he hit Sephiroth's blade, forcing it back. He attacked then, coming at the general with a series of slashes that he blocked easily.

It seemed like forever since Cloud had handled a sword, though trying to operate Zack's was a difficult feat on its own. Even Zack had had a difficult time with it when it was first passed onto him through his mentor, Angeal. But he had been determined to master it. Much of Cloud's energy was put into blocking Sephiroth's advances. Each hit that he stopped sent ripples of pressure up and down his arm. His wrists and forearms ached, as did his shoulders and back. It was an intense fight but a short-lived one. Cloud raised the sword up and brought it down as hard as he could at Sephiroth but the general blocked and then pinned his blade to the floor with his own. He used the opportunity to deliver a back-handed blow to Cloud's left cheek which had him stumbling back a few steps. He used the hilt of his blade to then strike Cloud twice, once in his chest and the other in the side of his ribcage, smiling at the sound of a few of his ribs cracking. Cloud hit the floor, Not a moment later, he yelled out at the feeling of steel slicing into the flesh and muscle of his left upper arm. He grabbed for the blade, closing his hand around it where it had impaled his body and he looked up at the man hovering over him. He smirked at the pain shrouded in Cloud's eyes.

_This hurts too much to be constructed…_Cloud thought to himself as he tried to breathe through the steadily rising agony he felt. He kept his eyes locked on the generals, seeing them gleaming in amusement.

Sephiroth only smiled wider as he began twisting the blade around in Cloud's flesh, watching his face twisting with agony as he ground his teeth together. "You're so _weak_," he spoke icily. "It's pathetic." Just then, Sephiroth stumbled forward, his blade dislodging from Cloud's arm. Zack stood by, gripping one broken arm with the other. He had kicked Sephiroth from behind. "Aching for more?" the general asked as he turned to face Zack.

"I can't believe I ever called you a friend," Zack spoke then. It seemed to Cloud to be an odd thing to say. Was Hojo aware of the friendship that had existed between Sephiroth and Zack? He must have been, otherwise he wouldn't have programmed the simulated Zack to say such a thing.

Cloud lifted himself slowly as Sephiroth was busy with Zack. Zack had no real means of defense or of fighting back really but did a good job avoiding the general's strikes. His luck wasn't going to last forever though. With one hard slash, Sephiroth carved a line across Zack's torso and with one final cry he was hitting the grated floor at his feet, his blood seeping through the holes in the metal down into the mako below.

It was Cloud's only chance. Wielding Zack's sword with powerful fury, he charged at Sephiroth's back. The man turned just before his attack, blocking what would have been a direct hit to his back but Cloud was moving faster than he ever had, managing a hit to his ribs with his fist before drawing back and using the hilt to knock him down. He spared no time in bringing the sword down on the general, stabbing deep into his gut. A startled cry left his lips. To Cloud's surprise, it didn't seem to affect the general much because within a mere second he was hitting Cloud square in the chest with his boot. Cloud lost his grip on the buster sword when he fell back. He watched Sephiroth pull it from his stomach slowly, the dark blood dripping off it. _Last chance_, Cloud thought as he lifted himself to his feet and charged at the general who was tossing Zack's sword to the side. He rammed himself into the madman seeing he was only inches from the guardrail that cordoned off the wide precipice leading to the raw mako below. The force of his attack sent both of them over the railing. Cloud reached out blindly for it, grasping the metal in his hand. His arm nearly dislocated from the socket from the force of his body falling with Sephiroth's. It took him a moment to realize he had not plummeted along with the general and that he was hanging from rail by one hand.

Slowly, and with a great deal of effort, he managed to pull himself back to safety, collapsing on the floor momentarily and breathing hard. He closed his eyes and waited for the simulation to end along with the pain from his injuries. After a few minutes, he opened his eyes and stared not into the darkness of the transmitter helmet but the ceiling of the reactor. "What's going on?" he questioned aloud. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked around. The loud sounds of the reactor echoed throughout. His heart beat hard in his chest. He heard a faint sputtering sound then and directed his eyes to where his simulated friend lay. His shoulders shook a little as he coughed, choking on the blood filling his lungs. Cloud moved over to him putting a hand on his back. Simulation or not, he felt bad for him. His eyes opened slowly and he stared up into Cloud's face. Man. It was hard to believe it wasn't really his friend.

"You did good, kid," Zack spoke uneasily, swallowing back the blood he had in his mouth. "If you were really Cloud and we were actually here, I'd tell you to get out before some mad scientist shows up and kidnaps us," he said then, beginning to laugh but finishing in a choking cough. Cloud stared back at him, not sure he had really heard right.

"If we were really here?" he echoed.

"Don't worry, simulation Spikey, it'll all be over soon." Cloud shook his head in confusion.

"What? I'm not the simulation…you are," Cloud retorted. Zack stared back at him looking just as confused as he felt.

"I was so sure it was really you…" he began in a tone full of awe. "So you're saying…"

"Oh God," Cloud breathed. The realization hit them at the same time. They were in a shared simulation. Cloud's stomach fell hard as he realized then that all that time he stood outside listening to Zack's tortured screams and refusing to enter the reactor to help it was really Zack, the real Zack. It made him feel sick to think he'd wasted so much time in stopping Sephiroth from hurting him. "I don't understand—how did Hojo do it?" he questioned, staring around as if the answer would present itself then.

"Ah-better question-ah-is when's it going to end?" Zack struggled to speak through his pain. His body had been broken in so many places. As Cloud let his eyes wander over his friend he could see a place on his one arm where one of the splintered bones had pushed up out of his skin.

"Goddamn me, Zack," he began, his voice shaking a little as his emotions were beginning to take over. "I didn't know it was you. I shouldn't have assumed—"

"Forget it, Spike, how could you? I didn't know."

Cloud lowered his eyes. He listened to the sounds of Zack trying to breathe. Placing a hand on his shoulder he started to move him, thinking if he was on his back it may be easier for him. Zack cried out and told him to stop.

"It may help if you—" he started to explain but Zack interrupted him.

"No, no, ah-you're right, but this grate's the only thing keeping my guts in right now. And if-ah-" he paused to take a breath. "If I turn over I'm gonna fall apart…literally," he finished explaining then started to laugh a little at his own joke. Cloud didn't laugh. He watched Zack lie still, gasping and coughing lightly while blood continued to drip down from his body into the mako below.

"Why isn't the simulation over yet?" Cloud wondered aloud.

"I dunno. I'll tell you what though. I don't kn-ow how many times I can handle dying in these fucked up things…"

Cloud lowered himself onto his stomach next to Zack. He turned his face towards his and watched his heavy eyes as they opened and closed slowly.

"I'm really scared, Zack," Cloud uttered, barely above a whisper. "I'm scared of everything that's happening to us. Of how it's changing us."

"I know," Zack replied softly. "I am too. But we're gonna get out. I promise."

"And who will we be by then?"

They stared at one another, neither really knowing what to say. Cloud watched Zack's eyes close then as he tried to inhale, the sound of the air getting trapped in his throat and hissing back out along with a trail of blood that dribbled out from the corner of his mouth while he lay still.

"Zack?" Cloud spoke his name fearfully, not wanting to believe he'd just watched his friend pass away in front of him. There was no response. He didn't say his name again, though he wanted to. He wanted to shout it, to grab him and start shaking him but he knew it would do no good. He lay where he was, his eyes fixed on his unmoving friend as a few tears made their way to the corners of his eyes and he reminded himself over and over that it was only a simulation and it would all be ending soon.


	20. Chapter 20

_Hey guys! I was hoping to have this out a little earlier but ran into a bit of writer's block. As I've mentioned to several of you, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter but I'll let you judge it for yourself :)_

_Thank you all my lovely readers and reviewers. Some of the best moments of my day are spent reading your incredible reviews! You guys are awesome! I promise I will try to have Chapter 21 out in a couple of days. I hate leaving you guys waiting too long lol. That's all from me! Read on and enjoy :)_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing of FF. _

Chapter XX

Hojo's simulations were something that had quickly become a daily experience for Zack and Cloud. They each experienced numerous deaths. Several times they were also given shared simulations but there were the times when they were faced with simulated versions of each other as well so they could never quite be sure what to expect. Between the experiences with the 'Hell-Huts,' fitness and combat testing, and the ever distasteful mako treatment, they found themselves in a constant state of exhaustion. If it weren't for the Whip injections they were given daily they would probably have a hard time functioning. Meanwhile, Cloud's mysterious illness continued to thrive. Zack watched as his friend slowly began fading away to the point at which he could count Cloud's ribs through his skin and was met constantly with eyes surrounded in dark circles. It was painful to watch. Despite Dr. Marsh's advisement, Hojo had continued to put Cloud through the various tests and mako treatment. His philosophy those days seemed to be "If he survived yesterday he can survive today."

He would only be able to ignore the inevitable for so long however. When it came right down to it, he wasn't going to go so far as to risking the death of his specimens. He was too far into his project, too deeply enveloped. Cloud's fever had been running extra high for a few days. Today was no exception. The thermometer displayed a 105.8. The day before, he had had a temperature of 103.5 and Hojo had him put in the tube for mako treatment anyway. It took less than an hour for his fever to spike up and send him into a seizure. When Marsh announced once again that he had a significantly high body temperature that would warrant barring him from the treatment for the day Hojo was visibly irate. He questioned her ability to keep his specimens in 'working order.'

"I'm sorry, professor, but it would be a very bad decision to continue treatment on C4 when we have no idea what is causing his illness," Marsh spoke firmly.

"Well then what is it you suggest, doctor?" Hojo asked in clear irritation.

"Well…" she struggled with finding a suggestion. "Perhaps if I had a bone marrow sample I may be able to see more clearly what's wrong."

Hojo stared back at her in contemplation. "Fine," he agreed at last. She nodded.

"I'll get an exam room ready," she said as she headed for the door.

"No, that won't be necessary, doctor, we can do it here," Hojo replied, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to him with confusion in her expression.

"Here, sir?" She questioned, not sure if she had heard right.

"That's right," the professor confirmed. "Bring the specimen over," he added then, directing the goons standing at the door. Along with the doctor, Zack and Cloud were both staring at Hojo in shock, not believing he could be serious. The goons complied though, heading to Cloud's chair to begin removing his restraints.

"But professor, there's no anesthetization agent here. Do you want me to retrieve some from the medical sector?" Marsh asked, ready to head out the door again.

"No, doctor, that won't be necessary. It is a procedure that can be done with anesthetization," Hojo responded quickly, pulling the sheet covering the examination table off in one quick sweep. The goons had finished removing Cloud's restraints. They each took one of his upper arms and pulled him to a stand. He didn't know what was going on. _Bone marrow? Anesthetization? What the hell's happening?_ he questioned anxiously in his own mind that was quickly becoming fogged with fear. Zack didn't know what to expect either. He seemed to have lost his voice as he watched the goons taking his friend over to the table.

"Professor, the procedure is extremely painful," Marsh went on, a hint of dread in her own voice that was very unnerving. At the mention of pain, Cloud came to a dead stop.

"Wait!" he spoke fearfully. "Wh-what's going on?" His eyes darted from Marsh to Hojo.

"I know what the procedure is, doctor," Hojo said, denying her once again. Marsh looked at Cloud sympathetically.

"Dr. Marsh?" Cloud spoke in a small voice, his eyes begging to know what was about to happen. She looked away from him. As the goons tried to move him he resisted. His weakened state didn't allow him much success in his attempt to stay as far away from the table as possible. Zack snapped himself back to action then.

"HEY! Hojo! What the hell is your problem? Why do you even hire a doctor when you ignore everything she tells you?!" he questioned angrily, straining against his restraints. Hojo ignored him. One of the lab assistants was trying to strip Cloud of his pants. Cloud wasn't giving up willingly by any means. He managed a good kick that knocked the assistant down but fell into a lack of resistance when Hojo threatened to send waves of pain through his skull with that stupid remote control of his. While he was being locked down in metal restraints on the cold examination table, one of the assistants had prepped a tray with some ridiculously large needles rested on it. Hojo picked up one of them and reached it across Cloud, holding it out for Marsh to take. She looked at it with disdain. Cloud felt his body start to tremble a little harder as he kept his eyes locked on the instrument.

"Dr. Marsh," Hojo said her name firmly. She swallowed hard and took the needle from him. She was determined to do her job. She _had _to. Wiping her face of all emotion she gripped the needle like a dagger and held it above Cloud's right thigh. She knew she would have to use a lot of force to get to the marrow she needed. Not breaking through the bone the first time would only make the whole thing more torturous for Cloud. _Not Cloud, the specimen. Specimen C4_, she corrected herself.

Her eyes shifted to Cloud's. They were wide and confused. Most of all, frightened. _Oh God, how can I do this? _she questioned herself. She had a flash in her mind of some of the articles she had come across on the 'death' of Cloud and Zack, and the pictures that had been printed in various ones. She couldn't stop herself from thinking of the people out there that loved them and had been mourning the loss of them. _What would they think if they knew the truth? What if they knew they were here, alive, and being experimented on like rats? _

"Anytime, doctor." The professor's words blanketed over her thoughts. She took a breath and cleared her mind, setting her eyes upon the target place where the needle needed to be imbedded. _Just do it_, she scolded herself. Her grip on the needled tightened and she raised her hand a little as she prepared to strike Cloud's thigh. It was his small, barely audible gasp that stopped her once again.

"I'm sorry, professor, I can't do this," she said then, lowering her hand. The look he gave her could have cut through glass. Angrily, he grabbed the needle from her and without hesitation raised it high and stabbed hard into Cloud's leg, tearing through, flesh, muscle, and then bone. Cloud's scream echoed through the lab and Zack gripped the arms of his chair hard, wanting to rip himself free from the leather restraints and grind the old man into the floor. Cloud's cries continued as Hojo pulled back the pump on the syringe, sucking dark-colored liquid up into it. He removed the needle and the sounds of agony ceased momentarily until Hojo reached for a second needle and with another hard strike, Cloud's pain was piercing all ears again.

The leather straps were cutting deep into Zack's wrists as he used all his strength to pull against them but he wasn't feeling it. The adrenaline made sure of that. No one was paying attention to him. All eyes were focused on the scene at the table. There was no way the restraints were going to give way. But last time he checked, the chairs were wood, and fairly old. It didn't take very long at all for it to begin to split at the joints. The right arm of the chair came apart from its frame with a loud CRACK that no one seemed to notice since Hojo was setting down the second needle of marrow and reaching for a third. _Is he trying to get enough for a fucking transplant!_ Zack thought to himself as he reached over to undo the strap holding his left wrist down. A minute later he was free of the chair and his eyes were set on Hojo. For a brief moment it did flash in his mind that his actions were going to probably hurt Cloud but he was being hurt anyway.

The room broke out in disorder as one of the assistants saw Zack headed at them. He would be screaming out in mere seconds as Zack broke his arm at the elbow. He was intent on taking the assistants down quick because he knew the goons were going to be all over him fast. In his one hand he was holding the busted off arm from the chair. After headbutting the second assistant down he turned fast to meet the first goon, swinging the splintered end of the chair arm into the side of his face as hard as he could. Specks of blood whipped around in the air as the goon's head was thrown to the side. Zack delivered a hard kick to the side of his left knee and judging by the goon's loud reaction it sounded like a break.

The second goon was after him then and he swung the chair arm again, this time straight up, it split in half down the centre when it connected with his chin and sent him flying onto his back. It must have been a good hit because to Zack's surprise it knocked the goon out. The third goon, Tyson, caught hold of him, grabbing his left arm and twisting it back, he applied pressure to Zack's back. Zack knew he was aiming to dislocate his shoulder. He would have succeeded had Zack not swung around and jabbed a syringe of sedative into his neck that he had grabbed off one of the prep trays and had been hiding in the waistband of his pants. The goon fell hard and Zack readied himself for Doner who to his surprise was nowhere to be seen. The only ones left standing in the room were Hojo, Marsh, one lab assistant and himself. Hojo was leaning back against the metal exam table, fishing through his pocket from his remote so that he could threaten to punish Cloud if he didn't back off. He wasn't going to let him get the chance. As Hojo pulled the remote from his coat, Zack reached down fast and grabbed one of the fallen assistant's clipboards off the floor before whipping it at Hojo. It hit with perfect aim, knocking the remote clear out of his hand.

"DO SOMETHING, YOU MORON!" Hojo shouted at his last assistant in a mixture of anger and slight fear as he rounded the exam table trying to get away from Zack. The assistant was standing, leaning up against the cylinder Zack was usually put in for mako treatment. He was trembling, his mouth hanging open in shock. Hojo was going to make a run for the lab door but Zack was there first to stop him. The professor retreated, grabbing a stack of folders off his desk and throwing them at Zack where they erupted into a storm of loose paper that momentarily cut off Zack's view of him. To his surprise, Hojo had made it to a door. A door he had no idea was even in the lab till that moment. Clearly, it had been crafted to be a secret door in the one wall. He lunged for Hojo, determined to not let him slip away unscathed but he was too late, the door slammed shut just as he threw himself into it, hoping he could knock it back before it locked in place.

"Fuck you, Hojo!" he shouted in fury at the wall before turning back around. His eyes locked on the assistant and he marched toward him quickly, watching him trying to back away further as he neared. He grabbed the assistant and dragged him toward the control panel next to the exam table. "Open the restraints _now_," he demanded. The assistant complied, punching in a code and a second later the metal bonds holding Cloud down snapped open. "Thanks," Zack said before punching the assistant out. The third needle was still lodged in Cloud's thigh. Cloud was up on his elbows, breathing hard, his face damp with sweat and tears. "Hey," Zack spoke as he stepped up next to him, helping him sit up. "I'm gonna pull it out, okay?" he said as he reached for the syringe, closing his hand around it lightly.

"Yeah," Cloud said weakly, nodding his head. He gripped Zack's other hand hard and cried out once again when Zack pulled the needle out fast, though it was a much quieter exclamation of pain than those before it. Tossing the syringe onto the tray nearby, he helped Cloud down off the table, pulling his one arm around his neck so he could support him. Cloud limped next to Zack, a few small lines of blood making their way down his leg with the pull of gravity. Zack's own wrists were bleeding pretty badly from his own break out from the chair. He only hoped it wouldn't stop him from getting them out of there. As they came up to the door, Marsh was crouched against the wall to the left. She seemed to be in shock. She didn't look up at them as they passed through the doorway into the hall. Zack started them heading down the old hall that led to the Hanger. He was more intent on finding some place they could hide for a little while until he could figure out their next move. "You're really bleeding a lot, Zack," Cloud spoke after a few moments of them heading down the long hall.

"I'm fine, Spike," he assured him.

"We're leaving a blood trail," Cloud pointed out then and Zack slowed to a stop, looking back the way they came.

"We'll have to hope they don't notice," he replied and started them moving again. The sad thing was that there was a possibility no one _would _noticed. The floors and ceilings of that basement were stained in blood in so many places; it was more unusual to find a clean spot.

Eventually they entered into what seemed to be a generator room or something of the like. There was a grate in the floor but other than that it was a dead end. Zack let go of Cloud momentarily to check out the grate. Cloud leaned back against the one wall and leaned over to check his leg. It was pulsing with remnants of the agony he'd experienced and was becoming quickly dark with bruising.

"Well, I think we're goin' down, kid," Zack said as he lifted the grate and slid it to the side.

"What's down there?" Cloud questioned, craning his neck and trying to see in.

"Ummm…well, it doesn't smell bad, so probably not sewage. Other than that, I have no clue. You gonna be okay climbing down? Looks about ten feet."

"Is there another choice?"

"Not so much. Okay, I'm gonna go first, that way I can help you out if you need it."

Cloud nodded and Zack slipped his legs in the hole, stepping onto the narrow ladder leading down. When he had disappeared, Cloud took a few deep breaths and winced as he put weight on his left leg. He didn't feel well at all but wasn't about to say anything to Zack. Zack himself seemed a little off. He was doing a good job hiding it but Cloud could tell he was weakening.

Trying to climb down a ladder with one leg is pretty much impossible. Cloud realized that pretty quickly. Every time he had to bend his left leg it felt like one of the thick needles was still in there. He couldn't rid himself of the feeling that he was going to be sorry he'd moved around so much after whatever hell procedure he'd just gone through.

After setting foot on the cold stone of wherever they had just climbed down into, Cloud held onto the rungs of the ladder for a moment. He was overcome with light-headedness. "Come on, kid, let's keep moving," Zack said, taking Cloud's arm around his neck once again. It didn't take long for them to realize they were in the pipe tunnels. Thick, dripping, rusty pipes ran overhead and next to the walls, leaving a rather narrow space for walking. It was also not the highest of clearances down there so while Cloud was fine Zack was forced to keep his head low. After about half an hour, Cloud was pretty sure Zack had gotten them lost.

One thing was for sure, Zack definitely did a good job of faking his physical condition because he took Cloud completely by surprise when he fell unconscious quite suddenly. His arms dropped and he went limp. "Zack!" Cloud exclaimed as he tried to keep him from falling. He was forced to put his weight, and a lot of Zack's, on his injured leg. He groaned through gritted teeth. "Zack, wake up!" he tried to rouse him by shaking him a little. No good. He was out like a light. Cloud was forced to lay him on the floor. There was no way he would be able to carry him around. He grabbed his wrists, squinting through the darkness to make out the seriousness of his injuries. They were still bleeding pretty bad. By now, Zack had to have lost quite a lot. Cloud felt a little panicked then not knowing how to stop it. The only thing he could do was remove Zack's pants and tear them into strips that he wrapped tightly around his wrists. The whole process left him exhausted. He leaned back against the one wall, closing his eyes and taking some deep breaths. His head ached and he could tell his fever was rising. Zack tended to joke that after weeks of having such a high temperature he was going to end up a cooked vegetable but truthfully Cloud was scared to death of what was happening inside his own body. It was as foreign to him as anything else and if he had no control over his own body then he had control over nothing.

Feeling his heart beating hard against his chest, he didn't need to check his pulse to know it was racing. He gripped his left thigh as it continued to ache painfully. As he focused on trying to keep himself calm he found a memory creeping up to the front of his mind. It was a memory of something that seemed to have happened so long ago, though it was really only about a year earlier. As he thought about it, the memory flourished and took over, breaking through the time barriers and seeming as clear as if it was yesterday. It was the second week of cadet midterm exams at the SOLDIER Academy. There was a wide variety of written and practical exams that all cadets needed to pass at a satisfactory level in order to continue on in their training. A few of the practical exams were carried out in small groups in order to test teamwork and leadership.

That day, Cloud and 5 other cadets were assigned a mission to enter a building that had been designed and set up as a testing site. They were to avoid all motion detectors and complete several objectives. They were split into pairs and each given a specific objective they needed to complete in order to pass the exam. Cloud was paired with a cadet named Baldwin and it was their objective to break into a highly sensitive safe and retrieve a set of blueprints. Something Cloud found he was quite good at was breaking into safes and picking locks. He had no problem visualizing the inside of whatever he was breaking into and all its parts, making it easy for him to manipulate them. So naturally he was able to break into the steel safe at the very far end of the building. With the blue prints in hand, he stood slowly, gazing down at them. Baldwin snatched them from him. In his haste to finish the objective he kicked the safe's door shut. Cloud didn't have a chance to warn him. The force of the door closing set off a laser grid of motion detectors across the floor of the building for the next fifty feet. It wasn't _impossible _to get around but it would be a pain in the ass.

As Cloud prepared himself for the feat, Baldwin stopped him. "Screw that! We're not going through that!" he protested.

"Uh, we kinda have to," Cloud pointed out.

"No way," Baldwin refused as he looked to a place near the back left corner where there sat a control consol about three feet high. The only indication that it was in operation was a small green light on the front of it. "I'll bet if we disable that consol the grid will go vamoose."

"I dunno, Baldwin—" Cloud began, turning to watch him rush over the consol.

"C'mon Strife, you got no guts," Baldwin mocked as he set down some of his gear and reached to remove the front panel of the consol.

_I have a bad feeling about this…_Cloud thought as he watched. He felt like there was something he should be remembering. Suddenly, it hit him. He remembered back to his Technics lessons. _Always check for a primary disable wire before attempting to shut down a reactor or security device. _Chances were that consol had a self-destruct that would be activated when the front panel was removed before the primary wire being cut. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks as Baldwin's fingers pulled at the panel on the consol.

"NO, DON'T!" was all Cloud managed to shout out before the consol erupted. A small hydrogen tank nearby was hit with a piece of shrapnel and exploded upon impact. All Cloud felt was a blast of heat and an immense force that threw him back into the wall behind him where he hit so hard he felt his body armor crack and the wall giving way. He fell to the floor face first and part of the wall came after him, more specifically a slab that was equipped with a row of long steel pegs used as guards to hold stocks of long panels of aluminum siding in place. Cloud covered his head with his hands instinctively and though he was lucky he wasn't quite lucky enough as one of the pegs came down on the back of his right thigh so forcefully it went straight through to the cement floor under him. At first he had no idea what had hit him. All he felt was a rush of hot pain in his leg and a slight pressure. As the shocks of the explosion died out and the debris began to settle, there came the first sounds of his fellow cadets. Groans, curses, and coughs echoed out quietly at first but were gaining in volume soon enough.

"What the fuck just happened?" one of them spoke as he lifted himself from the floor.

"Who was the genius this time?" another asked through a string of choking coughs.

"Fuck, let's get the hell out of here," a third suggested.

Cloud tried to lift himself and it was then he realized something wasn't right. He realized suddenly that he was nearly completely buried in slabs of broken sheetrock and debris. When he began to move, fiery pain shot up and down his right leg and all the way up his back. _Oh shit_, he thought to himself as he realized he had actually been hurt. "Hey!" he tried calling out but he knew the others probably couldn't hear him. He could hear them headed for the way out, throwing and kicking debris noisily out of their way as they went. The pressure on his back was starting to get a little too hard to breathe through. He tried pushing some of the debris out of the way but couldn't reach around far enough to push off what was pressing against his back. Before long, he felt himself sinking into the floor and knew right then he was going to pass out any second.

It was Zack who found him of course. Cloud and Baldwin were missing from the headcount when all the cadets were rounded up outside. As soon as Zack realized they were missing he jetted into the building without a second thought, even as the other officers were shouting at him to stay out. They feared the explosion had put the building on the verge of collapse.

The next time Cloud opened his eyes he found Zack staring down at him, a wide smile lighting up his face. "Hey," Zack spoke then. "Whatdoya think this is? Naptime?" He began to clear Cloud of the plaster slabs covering him but was forced to stop when he came upon the peg embedded in his leg. He left Cloud momentarily, coming back with a screwdriver that he used to detach the peg from the slab holding it in place. He and Cloud managed to get out of the building before the back end of it collapsed.

It seemed to Cloud that Zack had always had his back from the beginning. Whenever he was in a jam, Zack wasn't far off. Somehow he had always managed to look out for him, even with all the responsibilities of a first class SOLDIER. Zack was protective of all the cadets but with Cloud it was different. Zack had seen something in Cloud that set him apart from the other cadets. He didn't just _want _to be in SOLDIER, it seemed like he _needed _to be. He had watched as Cloud overcame aspects such as his size and grew more skilled than many of his fellow initiates. Unlike the others, Cloud never complained. There were times when he could barely leave the training centre on his own two feet, he had been worked so hard, but he never said a thing about it. When Cloud wasn't accepted into SOLDIER, Zack's watchful gaze on him only seemed to grow stronger. He convinced Cloud to enlist in the militia and promised him he'd make it his mission to ensure Cloud got into SOLDIER the next time 'round. It was during his time out of the Academy that Cloud and Zack's friendship really grew. Zack was no longer his commanding officer. That fact alone took away the pressure Cloud had always felt to prove something around him. He began to see him as a friend and more importantly as a friend that came close to filling the family void he'd always had.

Cloud realized as he watched Zack resting unconsciously that their imprisonment had made them more than friends. It had made them family, it made them blood. Knowing this was the only thing that was going to keep their friendship intact. Because no matter what Hojo did to them, no matter the threats he made and the simulations he put them through that had them pitted against one another, if they could see each other as brothers they could overcome it.

Slowly, Zack began moving then. He groaned softly before opening his eyes. "Man, I feel like shit," he exclaimed groggily as he tried to sit up. "How long was I out?" Cloud shrugged. Zack inspected his bandaged wrists. "Heh, boy do I feel like a chump," he added.

"I wouldn't. You lost enough blood," Cloud pointed out, his voice shaking like the rest of him.

"You alright?" Zack asked then, moving a little closer to him.

"I dunno. I guess so," he responded indifferently. He couldn't remember anymore what it felt like to feel 'fine' or 'good.' He coughed a little on the cold, stale air. His chest felt heavy.

"Well we should probably try to find a way out of here. No doubt Hojo's got every available guard looking for us by now."

Zack climbed to his feet uneasily and then reached down to help Cloud up. They were both shivering as they continued their way through the underground maze. Cloud couldn't stop thinking of how angry Hojo would be at that moment and how bad he would want to punish him and Zack for trying to get away again. He thought of the Hanger, of the countless hours he'd spent suspended in cuffs as punishment. He couldn't bear the thought of being put back in there.

"What are you thinking about?" Zack questioned as they stood at a fork in the tunnel and he tried to decide which way they should go. Cloud hesitated, not sure if he should lie or not. He knew what Zack's response would be but also knew if he wasn't honest Zack would probably know and just bug the crap out of him till he confessed. He decided to skip the song and dance.

"I was just wondering what Hojo is gonna do if we're caught again," he spoke truthfully.

"We aren't getting caught," Zack replied quickly, choosing the left direction in the fork.

"You don't know that, Zack," Cloud retorted.

"Well we have to try right?" he questioned. Cloud was silent. "We can't just give in to that crazy prick."

"I know. It's just…"

"Just what?" Zack asked after waiting a moment for Cloud to finish his thought.

"Nothing," Cloud answered in a low tone, shaking his head. Zack sighed and they trudged on. In Cloud's mind, he was overcome with the terrible feeling that they were going to be locked back up come nightfall, or daybreak…there was no way to really know the time of day it was. As much as it killed him to admit it, he suspected the only way they were ever going to get away was if someone on the inside helped them.

It seemed like they had been wandering the cold pipe tunnels forever. By the time they came across a ladder leading upwards, Cloud was convinced they had found their way back to the place they had first come down. Zack climbed the rungs first, peering through the grate at the top cautiously before pushing it up and sliding it to the side. "Come on, Spikey," he called down to Cloud after a moment. Climbing up was much easier for Cloud than climbing down had been. It was still painful and slow, but easier. As Zack covered over the opening once again, Cloud rested on the concrete floor of what looked to be a utility room. He tried to hold it back but couldn't stop himself from coughing hard into his arm that he used to cover his mouth. When he drew it back it was speckled red with blood. Zack crouched next to him, placing and hand on the back of his neck.

"Hang in there, okay?" Zack said worriedly. "When we get out we'll find a doctor."

"You really think we're going to make it out?" Cloud questioned doubtfully as he wiped traces of his blood from his lower lip.

"I don't think, I _know_," Zack insisted.

Stepping carefully into the hall from the utility room, they checked to make sure the way was clear before heading to the left.

"You hear that?" Zack asked, stopping in his tracks.

"What?" Cloud questioned, straining his ears to hear what Zack could.

"Sounds like wind."

"You're right," Cloud agreed, hearing a faint whistling sound. They rounded a corner and pushed their way through a set of double doors. Their jaws dropped simultaneously as they found themselves in a large docking bay. About ten meters away was a tall chainlink fence that they approached in awe, gazing up at it as it towered over them. Beyond the chainlink, the docking bay doors were wide open displaying the dying light of a sunset on snow-covered ground. The fence was locked shut, operated mechanically from a control room. There were several security cameras attached to it like large eyes looking down at them. There was no way they hadn't been spotted.

"It's over," Cloud said dejectedly as he stared through the fence, his eyes fixed on the scene outside. "We're finished."

"No," Zack responded fast. "We can climb this," he said as he inspected the top of it. Cloud looked at him in doubt.

"I can't climb this, Zack," he said sadly, knowing he had nowhere near the strength. He could barely hold himself up at that point.

"It's not that high," Zack insisted. He met Cloud's incredulous expression. "What?"

"It's like 25 feet, Zack," he pointed out. He sighed long, shaking his head and pulling away from Zack. He lowered himself to the concrete floor, drawing his knees up and hugging them to his chest to stop himself from shivering too much against the winter air blowing into the bay. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a sunset.

"You can't give up now, Spike," Zack said as he crouched next to Cloud.

"I'm not giving up, Zack, but I can't climb this. You know I can't," he explained before watching Zack's expression change to one of contemplation. "You can't carry me over either," he added, knowing that's just what his friend was contemplating.

"You're right," Zack said after a few moments of silence. He rose to a stand and turned from the fence. He startled Cloud when he screamed out, long and loud, from the top of this lungs. A cry of ultimate frustration. He gripped the chainlink in his fingers and pressed his forehead to it. "We're so close," he said softly, taking deep breaths.

The sound of an alarm broke out from a speaker above. A signal to them that the guards would be approaching shortly.

"The guards'll be here soon," Cloud muttered. Zack said nothing. "You should go."

Zack looked down at him in confusion. "What?" he questioned, not sure he'd heard right.

"If you hurry, you can be over the fence and gone before they even get here," his friend explained levelly. He never looked at him, just kept his eyes on the freedom that lie just meters away.

"We've had this discussion already, kid," Zack responded through an exaggerated exhale. He turned his back on the fence, leaning back against it and crossing his arms.

"Zack—"

"I'm not leaving here without you. Period," he stated firmly.

"Zack, you could get help," Cloud pushed on. Zack looked at him like he was crazy.

"Help? From where, Cloud? What authority is there that isn't connected with Shinra?"

Cloud moved his eyes to the floor. "Don't do this, Zack."

"Don't do what?"

"You have a chance at freedom, it may never happen again. And you're gonna give that up? Because of me?"

"Guess so," Zack said fast, shrugging like he was giving up some mundane thing.

Cloud struggled to get to his feet, using the fence to support him. "This is fucking stupid, Zack!" he said angrily, wanting to pick his friend up and throw him over the fence. "You're giving up the chance to have your life back!"

"And what kind of life will I have, huh?!" Zack shouted back at him. "What do you think? I'm gonna just be able to go on while knowing you're still here?" Cloud looked away from him. "What am I gonna do? Go get some random job, get married, and just forget about you?"

"YES!" Cloud shot back at him, tears beginning to fill his eyes. "Please," he spoke painfully as the tears found their way out.

"No," Zack refused, shaking his head definitively.

There was the sound of metal squealing as the docking bay doors began to close then. Cloud gave up. He slid down to the floor again with his back to the fence. Zack lowered himself down next to him.

"I'm sorry, Cloud," Zack spoke softly. "I just can't do it. I could never live with myself." Cloud said nothing. The only thing they could do now was wait. It wasn't long before they could hear the sounds of hurried clopping boots headed toward them. About ten seconds later a group of fifteen or so guards entered the area. They seemed a little surprised to see Zack and Cloud sitting there waiting passively. "Heya, fellas," Zack greeted them. A few of the guards readied their batons while a few more pulled sets of cuffs from their belts.

Back in his lab, Hojo was sitting back in his chair tapping a pen against his desk. He was staring at the phone and awaiting the call that seemed to be taking forever. He nearly jumped from his seat when it finally rang, grabbing the receiver quickly. "Well?" he questioned forcefully.

"We have them, professor," the guard on the other end spoke happily. A satisfied grin crept across Hojo's face as he thought of the lessons in obedience he was going to have to teach his little specimens...


	21. Chapter 21

_Hello all!! I don't have too much to say besides a big old thank you to my readers and reviewers! I love you guys, you're awesomness! haha! I hope y'all are having a great summer and that you enjoy this next chapter! Imput and critique always welcomed! Read on and enjoy! :D_

_Disclaimer: FF belongs to the fabulous Square Enix. _

Chapter XXI

Shrouded in darkness, Zack ran his hands through his hair for probably the billionth time. It was a nervous habit he'd had for as long as he remembered. The chains attached to the shackles around his wrists and ankles clanged with the movement, echoing in the small space and bringing heavy contrast to the suffocating silence. It seemed like hours had gone by since he was dumped in the tiny cell by the guards. The room was somewhere near the Hanger in the old D-Wing but this cell made the small Hanger seem like a stadium. If Zack's wrists had not been shackled he could have touched both walls on either side of him easily by stretching out his arms. The cell was about twice as long as it was wide but that wasn't much. It was damp and smelt of mildew and stagnant water. There were lights located in the corners but they only came on when the door was opened.

He sat on the cold stone with his back against the far wall. The shackles on his ankles were connected to those binding his wrists via a long chain. Another chain ran from his ankles to the wall behind him and allowed him only three feet of movement, meaning he could get nowhere near the doorway. He had been waiting for Hojo to come leer at him and mock his failed escape but so far he had seen no one. Paranoia and anxiety was bearing down on him as he thought of Cloud and wondered if the reason Hojo hadn't come to see him yet was because he was busy with his friend…

000

Restrained in his chair in the lab, Cloud watched Hojo and his assistant nervously as they prepared the punishment he had been anticipating. He had been immediately surprised when he hadn't been dragged off to the Hanger. Now a knot of dread sat heavily in the pit of his stomach because he had no idea what to expect. He glanced over at Reno and Rude who had been brought in as temporary replacements for the goons. Reno smirked at him and made a quick kiss motion with his mouth. The sound of a chair being dragged across the concrete floor toward him brought his attention back to Hojo who set himself down directly in front of him and adjusted his glasses on his face. Cloud stared back at the professor who was looking at him through hard, dark eyes.

"Did you enjoy your little frolic around the mansion, C4?" Hojo questioned finally.

"Where's Zack?" Cloud responded, not interested in answering any of his facetious questions. His jaw ached as he spoke. Back in the docking bay a guard had struck him hard in the jaw with his baton.

"You will not be seeing Z1 for awhile," Hojo answered nonchalantly. His assistant brought a tray over. All that was sitting on top of it was a pair of pliers and a small plastic container. "I've been having a difficult time trying to come up with a suitable punishment for Z1…I think you will be able to help me with that."

Cloud scoffed. "You really are insane if you think I'd help you hurt my friend," he spoke firmly, hiding the building fear from his tone.

"Well really, you have no choice," Hojo replied with mild amusement. He picked the pliers up off the tray next to him. His assistant took a recording device from his lab coat and pressed down the 'record' button before setting it down on the tray. He moved to stand next to Cloud at his right side and reached down to place his hand firmly over Cloud's, keeping it flat to the arm of the chair and making it impossible for him to curl his fingers into a fist. Cloud swallowed hard against the lump in his throat when Hojo took hold of his right index finger in one hand and slid the one prong on the needle nosed pliers under the end of his fingernail. He closed the prongs on the pliers, forming a tight hold on his nail. Instantly, the sweat was beading up on Cloud's forehead and every muscle in his body tensed in terrible anticipation. "Time to sing, C4," the professor said eerily. In a split second Cloud felt a pressure on the end of his finger that erupted into hot pain as the pliers began to peel back his nail from the tissue under it. A startled cry escaped him before he clamped his teeth together and fought against the restraints and the lab assistant holding his arm and hand in place. He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned hard against the fiery agony. It was incredibly intense. Every part of his body turned its attention to his index finger and it was like every nerve ending from his scalp to his feet were crying out. Instinctively his arm was trying to jerk itself away but merely thudded dully against the arm of the chair.

The worst of the pressure faded suddenly and he opened his eyes to see Hojo holding the pliers with his now completely detached fingernail trapped in its prongs. He gazed down at his finger to see it wet with blood, making it impossible to see the spot where his nail had been. He was somewhat thankful. He felt sick when he thought of what it would look like. "Now, now," Hojo scolded then as he dropped his nail into the plastic container on the tray. "You'll have to do better than that…" He reached for Cloud's middle finger then, taking the end of his nail in the prongs of the pliers.

Cloud was breathing hard. Beads of sweat were trailing down the sides of his face. Hojo took his time with his second nail, peeling and pulling slowly, maximizing the torture. Involuntary cries began to escape from Cloud's throat. Tears were pushing their way out from the corners of his tightly shut eyes. His body strained hard in the chair, begging to be free of the pain. As Hojo discarded the second nail into the container on the tray, the tears were flowing freely down Cloud's cheeks.

"That's a little better," Hojo mused. Cloud shifted his watery gaze once again to where the Turks stood. No grin was clad on Reno's face this time. He was watching the scene with a stony expression. "Still, you're holding back," Hojo continued.

Cloud tried to steady his breathing and stop his body from shaking but as Hojo closed the pliers on his right ring finger his trembling intensified. The pain was absolutely crushing. As Hojo tore the nail from its tender bed of flesh he succeeded in drawing out the first screams from Cloud. He choked back sobs then while the blood was dripping from his fingertips to the floor and Hojo was dropping his third nail into the plastic container on the tray.

"If I were you, C4, I would seriously try to convince Z1 to stop making trouble for both of you. It would save you much excessive pain," Hojo suggested.

Cloud laughed dryly. "What p-pain in this fucked-up freak show _isn't_ excessive?!" he blurted in a broken voice. Hojo eyed him curiously. "I don't care what you do to me!" Cloud shouted then. "I hope one day Zack does get a hold of you and tears you apart! And when that day comes I hope I'm here to see it!"

Any amusement Hojo had been displaying dropped from his expression to be replaced by something cold and determined. He jammed the one prong of the pliers under the nail on his pinky finger and ripped it from his skin angrily as Cloud cried out loudly. The professor signaled to his assistant who moved to Cloud's left side. _No_, Cloud thought as he realized the torture wasn't over yet. He squeezed his fingers shut into a fist before the assistant had reached his hand. He fought hard against the assistant as he tried to pry his fist open. Fed-up with Cloud's resistance, Hojo grabbed his jaw hard and pushed him back against the chair. He raised the pliers to his left eye before speaking loud and harshly.

"Continue to resist and I'll find something else to pry from your body," he threatened. Cloud kept his gaze fixed on the bloodied prongs of the pliers that were being held within an inch of his left eye. A few more tears added to the trails on his face as he fought with himself to open his left hand and give his fingers up to Hojo. A few moments later, his screams were ringing out and bouncing off the walls of the lab as the professor went for the nail on his left index finger, followed up by his middle one. Near the door, Reno and Rude exchanged glances. They couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the kid. They knew his punishment was far from over.

Cloud felt a wave of relief rush through him when Hojo set the pliers down on the tray at his side. His fingertips felt encased in fire. As they pulsed, blood continued to seep out and drip to the floor. He panted hard, trying to catch his breath. Hojo's assistant handed him a small plastic jug of clear liquid. Hojo stood as he took the jug in his hand, unscrewing the cap off the top. He tipped the jug and the clear liquid poured onto Cloud's right hand, over his fingers, washing away some of the blood. Cloud had thought it impossible for him to be in any more pain than he already was but when the liquid hit his torn flesh his eyes widened before slamming shut. His mouth on the other hand shot open as a hoarse, yet piercing, scream escaped him. The liquid, which must have been some type of antiseptic, seared like acid. He suffered through the burn as the liquid was poured onto his left hand next.

Hojo disappeared from his view then as he choked back his sobs and lowered his head, trying to imagine away his anguish. "Poor little specimen." Hojo's words gripped him from somewhere behind him. "I'm beginning to think the only way I will have any real success in my project is to have you and Z1 cut down to nothing first." Hojo appeared then once again. "Why not? Who says I can't rebuild spirit?" he questioned, bringing a hand to his face in contemplation. "What is it you value, C4?" he asked as he sat back in front of Cloud. "Pride? Honor?" Cloud said nothing. "I'm sure the Shinra Guard could help with that," he said in a tone that sliced through Cloud's mind. He raised his eyes to look at the professor, to inspect the degree of seriousness in his expression. It sent shivers down his spine to see how entirely serious he was. Something in Cloud's stoic expression must have changed then as a spark of interest flared in Hojo's eyes. "Oh. I see. I'm right," he said then. He appeared thoughtful as he rose from his chair. "That will have to wait for now. It's time to see how badly you wish to save your friend from suffering."

Cloud was taken from the lab then and led down the old D-Wing hall into a small room. There were two ropes hanging from the ceiling about six feet apart from each other. He was placed in the space between them. Hojo's assistant brought a cart in. Stacked on the top shelf were sheets of folded fabric. On the lower shelf were stacks of what looked like slabs of iron about 4 inches by 6 and about 2 inches thick.

"How well you do in here will determine how much time Z1 will be subjected to punishment," Hojo explained as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Take the ropes," he commanded. Reno and Rude each held one out to him at his sides. He reached out hesitantly and closed his wounded fingers around each of the fraying ropes. The distance he had to reach to grip the ropes had his arms straight out. The lab assistant began draping the heavy sheets of fabric over his arms. Each sheet had several large, deep pockets on either end. Inside the pockets, the Turks started to insert the iron slabs. The effect was almost instantaneous. As the pressure of the weight on his arms and shoulders began to increase steadily, Cloud found himself having to grip the ropes in his hands more tightly to keep his arms from dropping at his sides.

"Each of those bricks weighs fifteen pounds," Hojo explained. Cloud began counting the bricks to determine just how much weight was being put on him. When Rude deposited the last one, Cloud had determined he was holding 75 pounds on each side. "You are expected to remain as you are for the next hundred and twenty minutes. If you cease to remain as you are until the time is finished then each minute you did not cooperate will be an extra hour added to Z1's punishment."

Cloud watched after the professor as he left the room with his assistant. He was left with the Turks standing by. Already, he wanted to drop his arms and lower himself to the ground. He had been battling himself to remain somewhat together. He felt he could fall apart at the drop of a hat, curling into himself and bawling like a child. He was ashamed to admit to himself that if he could be anywhere in the world right now it would have been in his mother's arms. He couldn't bear the thought he was never going to see her again.

000

The sound of a key turning in the lock of the door drew Zack's attention. As the door opened, a low orange light filled the room as it poured down from the fixtures in the corners. Even though the illumination was dull Zack still had to squint till his eyes had adjusted. Hojo entered, followed by his assistant who was holding a small plastic container in his one hand. Zack couldn't make out what was in it. He returned his eyes to the professor's.

"I have no doubt you are going to greatly regret your earlier actions, Z1," Hojo began darkly. "C4 certainly is."

The mention of Cloud struck Zack hard. "What have you done to him?" he questioned firmly, trying to hide the fear from his voice. Hojo held out his hand and his assistant placed the small container he had been holding into the professor's palm. Stepping up in front of Zack, Hojo tipped the container in his hand and let the contents fall to the floor at his feet. Zack stared down at the bits of what he couldn't quite make out. He reached forward and picked one of the bits up and held it between his index finger and thumb. A rush of sickness came over him as he realized what it was. A fingernail stained black and red with drying blood. There was still a little skin attached to the one edge. A shocked cry escaped him and he dropped the nail, staring down at the others that lay on the cold stone.

"One for every one of my employees you injured," Hojo explained as he watched Zack's horrified reaction with satisfaction.

Zack counted six. Three for the goons, three for the assistants. For a moment, Zack thought he was going to be sick. He drew it back with anger and stared up at Hojo. "You evil fucking bastard," he seethed as he rose to his feet. He launched himself at Hojo but was stopped fast by the chains that held him to the wall. "How can you do this to him, he's just a kid!" he screamed at the professor. Hojo chuckled.

"I didn't do it to him, Z1, _you _did," he spoke icily. Zack trembled with fury as he stared down into the abyss of Hojo's eyes.

"You're going to pay, Hojo," Zack assured him then before the professor turned for the door. "I swear it Hojo! YOU'RE GOING TO FUCKING PAY!" he shouted after him as the door slammed shut and left him in darkness again. He fell back against the wall, sliding to the floor. "Spike," he said aloud, feeling his heart ache deeply. "What have I done?"

000

In a room not far from where Zack was, Cloud was still holding onto the ropes at his sides desperately as he felt himself being pressed into the floor by the weight hanging on his arms. It had only been about half an hour and his shoulders and elbows were sagging hard. His left leg was throbbing intensely and every muscle and joint felt weak. His body was trembling from the cold and his illness. But the worst of the pain still lingered in his fingers. They stung horribly, especially as the sweat in his palms seeped into the wounds.

"Just give it up, baby boy," Reno said casually as he was leaning against the one wall with his arms crossed.

"Don't talk to me, Turk," Cloud muttered through clenched teeth. Reno and Rude both laughed lightly.

"What do you care if your boyfriend gets punished? It's his own stupid fault," Reno pointed out.

"Why suffer more than you have to?" Rude added.

"He's my friend. If you had any human decency you'd understand," Cloud spoke shakily, a few beads of sweat dropping from his chin to the floor. He tried to blow some of his damp hair from his eyes without success. Reno came toward him then, stopping right in front of him.

"Well, no offence, kiddo," Reno spoke as he reached his hand out and pulled the strands from his eyes slowly. "But, doesn't look like pretty boy feels the same way. Says a little something about your _friendship_ wouldn't you agree?"

Cloud didn't want to believe he had let Reno's words sink into him. _No, Zack IS my friend. He doesn't want to see me hurting anymore than I want to,_ he argued with himself. He narrowed his eyes as he looked up at Reno. Without really thinking, he blew out his mouth with enough force that the droplets of sweat that had been collecting on his upper lip flew out toward Reno, a few of them catching his chin and neck. Reno raised an eyebrow, staring back at him with a complete lack of amusement before lifting his arm and plunking his elbow down on his extended arm, resting it there and allowing his weight to press down on Cloud.

"Screw you, Reno!" Cloud shouted at him as he struggled to hold the rope in his right hand, feeling his palm slipping on it. "Get away from me!"

"Alright, baby boy, calm yourself," Reno laughed as he took his arm from Cloud's and patted the side of Cloud's face. He left Cloud alone then and after he and Rude mocked him for a few minutes they went about talking of matters he had no interest in, nor did he even really understand them.

000

Sighing loudly, Zack lowered his head between his knees and held his hands over them. His head was pounding and his body was stiff from sitting on the hard and bumpy stone floor. All he could think about was Cloud. Images of what Hojo could be doing to him were fogging up his mind. _Why doesn't he just torment me?_ he wondered. He already knew the answer. _Because he knows this hurts more_. His ears perked up then as he caught the sound of something. He raised his head and strained to listen. It sounded like the airspace on the beginning of a tape recording. There were some faint sounds like shuffling and breathing. Then a voice. "Time to sing, C4." His body tensed instantly as he recognized the voice as Hojo's. A moment later, there was a startled cry followed up by some other pained sounds. _Oh God…_Zack cringed. _Cloud_.

Zack listened in agony as the tape rolled on, hearing Cloud's cries turn into screams and the screams intensify to the point where he thought he would start screaming himself. He thought of Cloud's fingernails lying somewhere in the darkness near him and it made him sick. There was a click in the recording followed up by the sound of airspace and then "Time to sing, C4." The recording was looped. Zack knew he was in Hell as he listened to the recording play over and over. On the third play he couldn't suppress his nausea anymore and vomited next to the right wall. Afterward, he lay shaking on the floor while Cloud's screams raced through his head.

000

Cloud had no idea how long he had been standing when his doom fell over him. He felt his chest heaving. _No, not now_, he begged his body. It wasn't listening. He began coughing on the air getting caught in his chest. His shoulders shook as he tried to keep the fit from escalating. There was no such luck. His hands slipped to the ends of the frayed rope as his knees began to buckle. He held on with everything he had, holding on till the last possible second. Suddenly, the ropes were no longer in his grasp and he fell hard on his knees and elbows. The weighted sheets hit the stone with loud 'clunking' sounds. He struggled to keep himself from falling flat on his stomach as he coughed on the blood and fluid making its way from his lungs. It splattered against the stone floor, drawing sounds of disgust from Reno and Rude. Reno took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed.

"He's finished," Reno spoke into the phone after a few moments. He looked down at his watch then. "Eighty-three minutes." He stared down at Cloud. "Yes, sir," he said clearly before closing the phone and slipping it back into a pocket in his suit jacket. "Time to go, baby boy," he spoke to Cloud then, walking toward him and reaching down to take his one upper arm. Rude took his other one and they lifted him to his feet. He could barely feel his legs. His upper body felt incredibly light yet stiff and weak. He tried to move himself the best he could on his own accord. Fortunately, he wasn't led very far, only a few doors down in the long musty hall. Reno unlocked the narrow door to a cell that could only have been about 5 feet by 9 or 10. It was more like an over-sized closet.

The Turks brought him to the far wall and attached a pair of shackles to his wrists and another to his ankles, connecting them with one chain and connecting a second from his ankles to the wall. Reno crouched in front of him then as he sat on the cold, damp floor. "Enjoy your new room, sweetheart," he said mockingly as he messed up the front of Cloud's hair. Cloud jerked his head away fast and Reno smirked before coming to stand and heading out the door with Rude. When the door shut he was left in complete darkness with nothing by his pain to accompany him. He became aware after a short time of some strange faint sounds. They seemed to be coming from the room next to his. He slid himself over to the right and put his ear to the wall. _Screaming_, he thought after a moment. _It sounds like screaming_. He thought of Zack then. All he could think is that Hojo had done something terrible to him. "ZACK!" he shouted at the wall, waiting to hear a response. He shook his head. The wall was too thick. Even the screams he could hear sounded like mere whispers.

Pulling himself up on his knees, he ran his hands over the floor at the edges of the walls, hissing in painful breathes as the dirt and stone touched his raw fingertips. He hit something then and grabbed for it, smiling when he realized he had found what he was looking for, a stone. Kneeling close to the wall he held the stone in his left hand and began a series of taps against the wall.

As Zack lay on the floor with his hands over his ears he thought he could feel some sort of vibration. It was very slight. He removed his one hand and put his ear to the stone. There was a definite clicking. He neared the wall to his left and put his ear to it, cupping his hands around it. The sound was clear. It took him a few seconds to realize that the clicks were spelling out his name. "Cloud!" he spoke aloud in surprise. It hit him that Cloud must have been in the cell next to his. He was using a code similar to Morse that was taught to those in both SOLDIER and the militia. Reaching around frantically, Zack felt around the edges of the walls for a stone he could use to tap back. His fingers brushed over one finally and he gripped it dearly, bringing himself close to the left wall. He began tapping back, spelling out Cloud's name. Cloud's attention jumped when he heard the responding clicks. "Are you okay?" Zack said aloud as he sent it in code. Cloud responded with 'yes' and then asked the same of him.

"You screaming?" Cloud also said his words out loud as he tapped it through the stone. He waited for Zack's reply. _You are?_ He stared at the wall in confusion before asking what he meant. _A recording._ Cloud remembered then. The recording device the assistant had placed on the tray in the lab while Hojo was prying off his fingernails had recorded his cries of pain during the process. Cloud couldn't believe it. Hojo was using the sounds of his agony to torture his friend. More taps came then from Zack. Cloud listened intently. _I'm sorry, Spikey. _

"I'm not," Zack spoke Cloud's reply aloud. He smiled a little through the tears that were trailing down his face in the darkness.

_What else did he do?_ Cloud put Zack's question together in his head. He closed his eyes tightly and felt his whole body aching. He didn't want to talk about the punishments Hojo was dealing them. Really, he didn't want to talk at all—or tap. His hands were far too sore. Now that he knew Zack was okay he just wanted to sleep.

"Not now. Need to rest," Zack spoke his reply. He sighed, wishing he could just be with his friend and talk to him.

Cloud waited until he heard Zack's tapped reply of 'Okay' before dropping the stone in his hand tiredly and falling back against the wall behind him. He was thankful for the darkness though he knew he'd be cursing it later. But for now, it was welcomed as it made sleep come upon him like a rush of wind.

He was roused what seemed like only minutes later by the sound of the cell door opening with a loud whine. Orange light illuminated the room and went straight to the back of his eyes as he opened them, shining a light on the headache he had developed. He pulled himself up a little and looked to the door to see Hojo's lab assistant.

He watched the assistant roll a small cart through the doorway. Reno and Rude were at Cloud's sides in a second, taking his arms and lifting him to his feet. The assistant rolled the cart right up to him and he could see a plastic tub of water sitting on top of it. The water was full of ice. Chills went up and down his spine just looking at it. He was so cold already he wanted nothing to do with the water. The assistant grabbed his shackled wrists and pulled his hands toward the tub. He resisted weakly but before he knew it his hands were plunged in the frigid water and he was groaning in pain and grinding his teeth to keep from crying out. His battered fingers were begging to be left alone. He curled them into his palms, trying to protect them from the incredible cold but it made little difference. He wanted to pull away and retract his hands but the assistant held them firmly, pushing them to the bottom of the tub. He kept an eye on his watch.

After what felt like forever, he released his hold on Cloud's wrists and Cloud pulled his hands from the ice water fast, sucking air into his lungs in hisses through clamped teeth. He was shocked when the assistant reached for his hands again a few moments later. He retracted fast, trying to back away but the Turks wouldn't allow it. Less than ten seconds later the icy water was biting at his skin again. After the second submersion, the assistant took a towel from the shelf on the cart and dried his hands roughly before wrapping his fingers with a porous cloth adhesive tape. As awful as the process was, his fingers needed the pressure of the wrapping. And now that they weren't exposed to the open air the fiery pain subsided some. He wondered, however, why Dr. Marsh hadn't been the one to treat him. Something about that made him very uneasy.

Less than a minute passed after he was left alone once again before he could hear the faint sound of clicking. He put his ear to the wall at his right. _What happened? Are you alright? _the taps spelt out. It took him a minute to find the stone he had dropped nearby earlier. Holding it in his left hand he began his reply.

"I'm okay," Zack said Cloud's reply out loud. It wasn't a comforting one. It didn't answer his question of what had just happened. As much as he wanted to talk to his friend, he didn't want to push him. The constant sounds of his recorded screams reminded him over and over that he had just gone through hell.

Zack didn't sleep. How could he? He lost count sometime of how many times the recording was played around the sixtieth play. He knew the tape by heart by then and could visualize everything clearly. No amount of covering his ears and curling his body into itself on the floor could keep the sounds out. A few times he had shouted curses, a few times he had weeped but most of the time he just lay there, listening absent-mindedly, trying to think himself someplace else.

When the door to his cell opened next it was like magic. The recording shut off and the cell was bathed in orange. Zack was sitting with his one knee drawn up and his right arm resting on it. He watched as Reno and Rude appeared.

"Merry Christmas," Reno said cheerfully as he entered Zack's cell. Zack couldn't believe it was actually Christmas. That meant it had been about 8 months that he and Cloud had been held captive. "Of course, I can think of a great many ways I could be spending the day that don't involve watching after you and your girlfriend," Reno added then. Rude scoffed.

"You can say that again" he spoke up. "Thanks to you, we get to spend the holidays working."

"I feel for you both. Really," Zack responded sarcastically.

"That's awfully nice of you, Fair," Reno commented. "Ya know, I ran into Aeris last night…" He smiled as Zack's expression hardened. He pulled a piece of paper from his pocket then, unfolding it and then reading off it. "It's been eight months since I saw him. While I refuse to accept his death, I can only assume that since he's made no attempt to contact me that any relationship that existed between us is coming to a close…Think she's talking 'bout you?" Reno asked with a smirk.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Zack asked as he pulled himself to a stand.

"Well ya know, she invited me back to that church of hers and her journal was just sorta sitting there…I may have took a page or two," the red-headed Turk explained.

"Give it to me," Zack demanded, reaching out for the paper.

"You didn't ask very nicely," Reno mocked as he held the page within a few inches of Zack's reach.

"Give it to me or the next chance I get I'll kick the shit out of you!" Zack threatened. Reno scoffed moving the paper forward just far enough that Zack could snatch it from him. He looked down at the words scrawled on the creamy paper.

"Like I said, Merry Christmas," Reno said then before leaving the room with Rude. The door slammed shut and the darkness and recorded screams returned. Zack sat himself back down on the floor and waited. Straining his eyes through the darkness he waited for his night vision to kick-in. Any normal person wouldn't have been able to see shit even with their night vision but one of the perks of mako treatment was enhanced vision, both in the day and night. While it wasn't easy, he was soon able to just barely make out the words written on the paper in his hands. He read them with an aching heart.

_The night couldn't be less joyful. I see those around me with smiles on their faces as they anticipate Christmas morning. Especially the children. Such a time brings a magic and a feeling one cannot touch the rest of the year 'round. And yet, I don't feel these things this year. I can smile with my lips but not with my heart. Every day that the man I fell in love with has been gone I have written a letter to him. Letters that couldn't be sent for there exists no earthly address to send them to. I burnt those letters this night. My mother's father taught me once that if you wish to offer something to the gods you must burn it. It is with this in mind that I turned my letters to ash. It is all I can do now in hopes that the gods may read them and their angels may deliver them to him. He is all I ever think about. _

_It's been eight months since I saw him. _

_While I refuse to accept his death, I can only assume that since he's made no attempt to contact me that any relationship that existed between us is coming to a close. I love him. I think I always will. But to be IN love with him hurts too much. In order to keep myself from falling I must force myself to let go. If I don't, I will never fulfill the purpose that has been given to me. I cannot commit myself to the ends that may never come. _

Zack swallowed hard. He turned the paper over to see if there was anything he had missed. There wasn't. He stared at the words intensely. Each one had pierced him like a stake. She was giving up. He had no right to wish her to do differently but still, he ached to be with her, to rush to her door and take her in his arms and tell her to not give up. He brought the paper to his nose. There was the faint smell of vanilla and the lotion she always wore. Before he knew it, the tears were trailing down his cheeks. His whole body ached, the pangs originating at his heart that was slowly beginning to break.


	22. Chapter 22

_Hey guys!! Man, I'm so tired and SO sorry I haven't been able to update quicker. I just started a new job and my ma's been pushing me to get some of my writing ready to take to a literary agent soon so I've been polishing off some novels I've been working on. SO, because of all this, it's looking like i'll only be updating once a week. So pretty much you can expect a new chapter every Friday or Saturday which I hope is alright. I wish I could put out a new one every day lol. _

_Also, I have an important note about this chapter. Now it seems that I have a fair mixture of readers for this story in that there are some who prefer less graphic violence and cruelty and those who want more. There are also certain subjects that a few people have requested I stay away from in this story. I hope up to this point I have managed to keep everyone relatively happy. I've tried my best to keep everyone's interests in mind when I'm writing because after all, I'm writing for you haha! With that said, this chapter is graphic. And unfortunately I fear a few of you will not like it very much. I'm very sorry for that. I hope that the way it is written will somewhat make up for that and you don't hold it against me. I struggled a lot with how this chapter should be written and actually it started out in a much more graphic version but I edited it down to a minimum. At the end of the day, while I want everyone to be happy, I have to stick by my original warning I put in the first chapter, that it is an M-rated story with elements of a not nice nature lol. _

_BLAH! So, I'm done rambling now. Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter all my lovely readers! You make me feel that I have the potential to be the writer I've always dreamed of being hugs_

_Disclaimer: Original FFVII material belongs to none other than the fabulous Square Enix. _

Chapter XXII

"_I'm gonna rip you apart from the inside, little bitch."_

Cloud woke with a start to those eerily whispered words that seemed so close to his ear. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and his body was slick with sweat though he was positively freezing. Lying on his left side, his hip and shoulder were aching deeply from being pressed against the hard stone floor for so many hours. As he moved to turn on his back he found a pained cry escaping him as his entire upper body threw up protest. The affects of the weight he had bore on his arms the day before were clear. The smallest of movements took so much effort and hurt like a bitch. It reminded him vaguely of how he felt that first week at the Academy when he and the other initiates were put through a vigorous boot camp. He groaned loudly as he settled himself finally on his back. His movements had awoken his heavily bruised fingers and they throbbed intensely as he tried to steady his breathing. As he lay silent his ears picked up the faint sound of those chilling screams that had come from his own mouth. He couldn't believe Zack was still being forced to listen to them.

Zack lay in his cell, curled into himself, clutching the page of Aeris' words in his one hand. He must have read it a hundred times over. He felt worse the more times he did. He had found himself experiencing mixed emotions over it. One moment he felt accepting of Aeris' decision and the next he found himself angry, wanting to shout at her and demand to know why she would give up after less than a year of him being gone. He wondered how he'd feel in her position. As much as he loved to flirt with the ladies and have their attention he just couldn't imagine himself being able to get over Aeris that easily.

He winced as his thoughts were interrupted by one of Cloud's shrill recorded screams. His head was pounding from listening to that all night and most of the morning. He would have given anything for silence. His thoughts returned to his friend then and he wondered if he was awake. He had tried a few times to get a response from him through code but there was no reply. Reaching for the stone nearby he decided to try again.

Cloud sighed when he heard the clicks coming through the wall. He wished he could just talk to Zack normally and not have to converse via a method that easily wore him out and increased the awareness of his injuries. He felt around slowly for the stone that was lying somewhere near the wall. Gripping it lightly, he began his response.

Zack was relieved to know Cloud was awake though he could tell it took a lot of effort for him to tap back to him. Cloud felt a deep twinge of guilt when Zack sent a message through that said "I love you, kid, but your screams are driving me nuts." Zack somewhat regretted saying that when Cloud responded with "Still think passing up the chance to escape was worth it?" In his mind he was saying 'no' and he scolded himself for that selfish thought. He couldn't help it though. He couldn't deny that the thought of getting to see Aeris hadn't made him wish he'd jumped that fence in the docking bay and took off. He was hit with a chilling thought that if he had just left maybe Cloud wouldn't have been tortured so brutally by Hojo. It was unlikely but it was a thought. Despite his true emotions nagging at him he responded to Cloud with a definite 'yes.'

Cloud sighed, knowing Zack was probably lying. _How could he not be?_

Cloud was startled then by the door to the cell opening suddenly and he dropped the stone fast. He covered his eyes as the low light invaded them and listened as a few sets of feet entered the cell. "Well, C4?" Hojo's snake-like voice captured his ears. "I hope you aren't feeling too _weak_ today. I have a program just for you and Z1," he went on. Cloud uncovered his eyes and looked to see Hojo standing next to one of his assistants who was holding a transmitter helmet in his hands.

_Whoopy_, Cloud thought to himself. _Just what I need, another soul-crushing simulation_. He sensed, however, that this was not going to be like any of the others he'd been put through. He struggled to sit himself up as the assistant came toward him. One of the goons Zack had injured during the escape was back on duty and he moved to Cloud, taking his shackled wrists and chaining them to the wall so that he wouldn't be able to reach his helmet to pull it off if he tried. With the helmet strapped firmly to his head he awaited to see where Hojo was sending him now. Hojo instructed his assistant to stay in the cell with Cloud while he and his goon made their way to Zack's cell with another helmet.

000

Zack looked around the plain white room in confusion. _What kind of simulation is this? _he wondered. He really hadn't put up much resistance when Hojo came in and told him he had a special treat for he and Cloud. Really, he was happy to take anything else over that goddamn recording he'd been listening to for over a day now. He walked up to the only door there was and pulled on the handle. It was locked.

"What the fuck is going on?" he questioned aloud then, turning from the door and staring up at the ceiling as if he'd find the answer there. There was a click then behind him and he looked back at the door to see it opening slowly. He let out an exhale in the form of a huff when he saw who came in. There were two of them. The one he couldn't remember seeing before, but the other sent memories flying back into the front of his mind. Memories of a night when he and Cloud had been so badly terrorized that they had to be put in comas while their bodies were repaired. He was one of the guards that had sneaked into his and Cloud's cell that one night months ago with revenge on his mind from the shit he'd taken over Zack and Cloud's first near escape. The other was a guard as well. They each had EMRs similar to the one Reno tended to carry around with him.

"Surprised to see us?" the guard he recognized spoke.

Zack scoffed. "Not really."

"Well that's a little disappointing."

"Oh yeah? Well, I wish I could say I was sorry to disappoint," Zack replied sarcastically. The guard smirked, taking a pair of cuffs from his belt and holding them up.

"You gonna come with us willingly?" he asked.

"Hell no," Zack responded firmly and at a level tone. The guard smiled wider, clipping the cuffs back to his belt.

"Good," he said with excitement gleaming in his eyes. He and his buddy activated their EMRs and began advancing on Zack slowly.

000

Before Cloud had even opened his eyes he could tell he was in the simulation. He knew immediately from the temperature change and the absence of pain he felt. The one good thing about the simulations was that for those few hours, Cloud could escape the illness that had been making his body slowly deteriorate. He could escape the constant weakness that had taken him over.

When he finally opened his eyes he found himself standing in what seemed like a storage room. Somehow, he knew that the simulation was modeled off an actual room in the mansion and that it was likely a room in one of the basement levels. The walls were lined in shelves that either housed various glass and plastic containers, or boxes of files. In one corner of the room were several old wheelchairs that were draped in dusty sheets. There was a wooden table in the centre of the room cluttered with stacks of trays, paper, and microscope slide cases. He took some slow steps toward one of the shelves holding cardboard boxes filled with files. He slid his hand under the lid and into the box directly in front of him and pulled a file out. The label on the folder read _K2_. Paper clipped to a stack of pages on the inside was a picture of a young man probably not that much older than Zack. Cloud flipped through the pages under the picture. He caught a few things briefly as he sifted through. _Experiment 4309.9_…_subject administered 300 mg of Hydraseptate…numerous aversive effects… _He stopped suddenly when his eyes caught a line that read _Current Status: __**Deceased - Terminated**_. At the bottom of the page was a signature. _M.S. Hojo. _An eerie realization came over Cloud as he set the folder down and pulled the box from the shelf, setting it on the floor and crouching next to it where he pulled the lid off it and thumbed through all the folders inside. There must have been a hundred in that box alone, all labeled with a letter and a number. "Jesus…" he whispered aloud as he wondered just how many people Hojo had experimented on before he and Zack.

He looked to the door then as he heard it opening with a click. "No," he muttered in dreaded awe as he recognized the first person to step into the room. He felt a phantom twinge of pain in his right side as the memory of having a soldering iron pressed to his flesh while he was contained in the hanger for the first time invaded his head. More memories followed quickly, of he and Zack being assaulted in their cell by he and two of his comrades.

Cloud rose slow as the guard entered along with two others he didn't recognize. "Well if it ain't the _little bitch_," he said smugly as he came toward Cloud. Cloud shifted his eyes to a bunch of mop and broom handles leaning against the wall in the near corner. He took a step toward them and the guard drew a handgun. "I wouldn't be fuckin' thinking about it if I were you," he spoke icily.

Cloud wasn't stupid. He knew that no matter what happened he would wake up alive and in the condition he went into the simulation. No way was he going to forfeit a fight. The guards weren't expecting him to disregard their threats. He kicked the handgun out of the guard's grasp and reached for a broom handle. He swung it around fast, knocking the first guard down and delivering a jab to the gut of the second one. As he brought the handle down toward the third one, the guard blocked with his nightstick. Cloud just barely managed to duck then as a tray cut through the air toward his head. Another came toward him and he deflected it with the broom handle. He wasn't fast enough, however, to avoid an oncoming shove into the shelf of boxes behind him. The shelf shook and several boxes stacked high on the top came down. Cloud dropped the broom handle to raise his arms up and protect himself from the plummeting boxes. His breath escaped him suddenly as he was struck in the stomach by the third guard's nightstick. As he bent over, gripping his gut, he took another hit to his back that sent him to his hands and knees. Before he could be struck again, Cloud reached around the back of the third guard's leg and pinched the pressure point at the back of knee hard. The guard cried out and dropped the nightstick, gripping the back of his left leg and putting all his weight on his right. Cloud grabbed his right ankle then and twisted and pulled hard, sending the guard to the floor.

A steel-toed boot belonging to the second guard kicked his side with surprising force, knocking him onto his side. It connected again with the side of his face, rolling him onto his back. He could taste blood in his mouth. The first and third guards had hold of his arms then, dragging him up and throwing him into a shelf nearby where the weight of his body came down on the various bottles and jars stacked there. They crashed beneath him and he found himself lying on a bed of shattered glass. The first guard took his one leg and began dragging him back. Cloud grabbed for a piece of glass, holding it tight. When the guard let go of his leg and reached down to grab the front of his shirt he sliced at his hand with the glass. The guard yelled out and drew back, gripping his wounded hand as the blood began seeping out. Cloud dodged the stomping boot from one of the other guards that was coming down over his chest. He rolled just in time to miss it. He threw the piece of glass toward the guard, sending it slicing through the air like a Frisbee. It hit the guard's cheek, drawing a horizontal cut. Cloud rose to his feet fast and looked for something to use as a weapon next but there was nothing. He had been backed into a wall. The guards looked at one another and smiled. They each reached into their belts and drew out their nightsticks. Cloud kept his breathing steady and his mind clear as they advanced toward him. He would need to be focused to anticipate his opponents' moves.

The guards created a semi-circle around him and he looked at each of them critically, trying to decide which one was going to make a move first. _Left_, he thought then as the guard swung his baton toward him and he blocked with his left forearm. The centre guard came at him then raising his baton high. Cloud delivered a kick to his gut that had him stumbling back and then he ducked to avoid the left guard's swing before he delivered a jab to his ribs. The right guard came at him then and Cloud blocked the advancing hits from the baton until he got an opening to throw his elbow into the guard's face. His senses pricked as he could feel a baton heading for his back and he turned fast to grab the baton in his left hand. He kicked the guard back and Cloud was left standing with the baton. He raised it to block an oncoming hit from the centre guard that was aimed for his head. He was able to work an offence then, sending two of the guards stumbling back at a time. If it had been two against one he probably could have managed. But even his enhanced senses and speed couldn't keep up with all three forever. He knew a fraction of a second too late that he had left his right side open to the one guard who delivered a hard hit to his kidney. It sent shocks of paralyzing pain through him. He had no time to overcome it as the left guard, the one he'd taken the nightstick from, was running at him like a crazed bull. He tackled Cloud's torso hard. The guard's size and strength far outmatched Cloud's and he sent him to the floor easily. The hit knocked the air from his chest and disoriented him. He felt the back of his head hit the concrete floor hard and his vision spun. He thought for a moment he was going to black out.

A nightstick came down on his neck then, held there with both hands by the one guard, restricting his ability to breathe and move. He felt the nightstick in his hand being torn away. He cried out then when he felt a searing pain on his chest. He glanced down and could just barely make out past the baton held to his throat the guard, whose face was one of the many that seemed to haunt his dreams, hovering over him with a shard of glass in his hand. He pressed it to Cloud's chest, just under his neck and drew it downwards, ripping through his shirt and cutting through the first few layers of his skin. He dragged the glass slow, all the way down to Cloud's navel, and he smiled as Cloud cried out in pain.

"You're a dirty fighter, you are," the guard said through his wide grin, the blood dripping from the wound on his hand Cloud had given him just moments earlier.

"Yeah, the kid likes it rough," another spoke. Cloud gathered up his strength for retaliation, drawing his right knee up fast and kicking the glass-wielding guard backward. He heard the clink of the shard hitting the floor. Placing his palms under the ends of the baton held against his neck he forced it upward fast, turning himself onto his stomach and flipping the guard holding it onto his back. That was all he managed to do however before a knee came down on his back and pinned him to the floor. The one guard disappeared from view while the other took hold of his left arm and pulled it back. He felt an immense pressure and a grinding before he heard a loud popping as his arm came out of his shoulder socket. The guard who had disappeared returned and began wrapping an electrical cord around his wrists in front of him.

Two of them lifted him up and dragged him toward the nearby table. He cried out from the pain in his dislocated shoulder. The guards threw him into the table. His torso slammed hard into the top, hard enough to bust a few of his ribs at the bottom of his ribcage. A guard held onto his tied hands and took a knife from his belt. In one swift strike he brought the blade down between his wrists, just barely missing his flesh. The knife cut deep into the wooden table top, pinning his hands where they were.

The guards turned to gaze at the door then as it was pushed open fast, a body falling onto the floor just inside the room. Cloud couldn't see who it was that landed on the floor but the guards all laughed in amusement as two of their companions entered the room then. Cloud recognized one of them as another of the three that had attacked he and Zack the one night. The third, of course, Zack had killed that night. The guards that entered looked pretty beat up themselves but their excitement overshadowed their pain. They reached down and lifted their prisoner to his feet. Cloud's stomach plummeted hard when he realized it was Zack. His face was pretty bloody and there were EMR burns on his arms and a few places on his clothes. Upon seeing Cloud, he struggled to speak through the tape over his mouth but was given a hard fist to the gut to shut him up. The guards dragged him to a metal column a few feet away that stretched from ceiling to floor and uncuffed his one wrist momentarily to pull his arms around the column where the cuff was reattached. Zack sat back on his heels and looked at the guards with pure disdain.

"We didn't want him to miss the show," the one guard said with a smirk.

The guards turned their attention back to Cloud then who fought harder than he ever had in his life. He pulled at the knife, trying to get his hands free and tried to kick the guards behind him. The problem with the simulation was that no matter how many times you told yourself it wasn't actually happening, it _was _happening. It was happening in your mind and that was real as anything. Cloud could feel the pain at that moment. He didn't give a shit if he wasn't feeling it when the simulation was over. A rag blotched in motor oil and grease was forced into his mouth so hard his gag reflex was triggered. He couldn't stop himself before he was vomiting a little into his mouth. It disgusted and amused the guards at the same time. They laughed and the one tied the rag off behind his head tightly. He felt the same guard reaching around the front of his waist. Cloud pulled on the knife at his hands. He gripped the blade that was partially exposed, letting it cut into his hand so he could pry it from the table. As soon as it was firmly in his hand he pushed back from the table, knocking the guard back behind him. He pulled the gag from his mouth and swung around towards the guard. He was stopped suddenly by one of the others gripping his dislocated shoulder and pulling on it hard. Cloud screamed. He was thrown back at the table and one of the guards tried to take the knife from him. He held it fast and hard, refusing to let go of what was his only lifeline.

All he could do was gasp and shut his eyes then as he saw the shadow of a hammer coming down toward his right arm. He cried out loudly when the head of the hammer crashed into his forearm once and then twice, bringing forth a cracking sound. It wasn't over yet as the hammer was used to crush his left arm as well. The knife hit the table top as it fell from his grasp. Any hope he'd had of defending himself with his arms was gone out the window. Another hoarse scream escaped him as the knife was stabbed through his right hand and lodged back into the table top.

"Why don't we try this again?" the guard at his back spoke icily as he tore the last few buttons on Cloud's pants and pulled them from him, along with his boxer shorts. Zack pulled hard on the cuffs around his wrists, tearing his skin in an attempt to pull his hands free. His movements only earned him a hard kick from one of the guards standing near him.

"This isn't real. It's all a simulation," Cloud struggled to string his words together through the intense pain in his broken arms. The guards laughed.

"Simulation's better than nothin', punk," the guard at his back spoke as he unclipped his belt and threw it on the table next to Cloud's head. "I'll take my revenge any way I can get it," he added lewdly. Cloud was confused. The guard had to be simulated. _They all are, aren't they?_ "Ya know, that fuckin' crazy-ass Hojo ain't so bad," he said close to Cloud's ear. Cloud could hear the sound of him unzipping his pants. He was suddenly struck with terror at the thought of the guards actually being there. He couldn't believe Hojo had gone this far.

"Why are you all doing this?" he questioned shakily, trying to hold back the tears building up in his eyes from his pain and fear.

"Well, you're just an offer too sweet to pass up," the guard to his right said as he licked his lips and reached out to run his hand through Cloud's hair. The guard on the left of him shoved the gag back in his mouth then.

Zack turned his head, not wanting to see what the guards were about to do to his friend but almost immediately rough hands were gripping his head. He was forced to watch in anger and agony as Cloud was brutally violated by the guards, his screams of pain and sobs muffled heavily by the rag in his mouth.

When the guards were finished, the one took his knife from his belt and pushed Cloud's shirt up to reveal his pale bare back. "This one's for Tass," he hissed as he began carving letters into his skin. Cloud had run out of the energy to scream anymore. He cried softly, squeezing his eyes shut and clamping his teeth hard on the rag in his mouth as he felt his flesh being cut into. When the guard was finished the letters spelt out 'Little Bitch.'

The guards laughed at him then as they began gathering up their things. The one stopped in front of Zack, crouching down in front of him. Zack glared back. He wanted to make sure he remembered his face, as well as the others. He decided right then that one day he was going to kill them. "You're friend there was pretty tight," the guard spoke through a satisfied grin. "But don't worry, we loosened him up for you if you want to have a go."

Despite being cuffed to the pole, Zack managed a pretty intimidating lunge at the guard and managed to headbutt him down onto his back. He groaned and cursed as he clutched his head and got to his feet. His face was red with anger. Zack didn't need any heightened senses to know what was coming. A hard steel-toed boot to the side of his head that had him knocked out like a light.

When he finally came to, Zack was shocked to find he was still in the simulation. He thought for sure he would have awoken in his cell. His head and face throbbed and his pulse seemed to be pounding in his ears as he raised his head and tried to blink the blur from his eyes. He stared across the room to where Cloud was. The guards had left him pinned to the table by the knife through his hand. He seemed to be unconscious, hanging partly from the table. From where Zack was he could see a pool of red that had gathered on the floor under him. He tried to call out to him but was quickly reminded of the tape over his mouth. He felt anxiety rising within him as he shook the cuffs against the metal column in front of him and tried to pull his hands out of them. There was no way. They were too tight.

_Desperate times…desperate measures_, he thought to himself as he held out his thumb on his left hand and drew his left leg back as far as it would go. He didn't know if it would work but he had to try. He took a deep breath before kicking his thumb as hard as he could. He screamed within his closed mouth as he felt his thumb snapping at the joint. It wasn't quite there. He forced himself to kick it once more, feeling it give way. With hot tears trailing from his eyes he pulled hard on the cuff around his left wrist and after a tense moment when he thought it wasn't going to fit over the broken joint, the cuff slid off his hand and he was free of the column. He pulled the tape from his mouth slowly, wincing as it pulled off some of the skin on his lips. He set his sights on Cloud then. As much as he wanted to rush over to him, he found himself approaching slowly.

"Spikey…":he said softly as he stepped up next to the table and removed the gag from Cloud's mouth. His eyes shifted from Cloud's face, that was fast developing bruises, to his back where etched in dried blood were the words 'Little Bitch.' He began redressing him then, pulling his shirt back down and his boxers and pants back onto his horribly torn body. He had bled out a lot. _It's all going to be over soon. The simulation will be over and it never happened_. Zack knew that wasn't anywhere close to the truth. But he so desperately needed it to be. Cloud stirred then, groaning painfully as he kept his eyes shut tightly. "It's okay, Spike," Zack said softly, trying to be gentle in touching his shoulder to let him know he was near.

"Za-ck?" he questioned in a broken voice, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me," he assured him. Cloud's eyes opened then and he set his gaze on the knife lodged in the table through his hand.

"Oh…God," he said with a hint of panic in his voice. It was almost as if he had forgotten all that had happened only to be reminded quickly by the horrible pain he was in. The tears were coming fast then, his voice cracking into some soft sobs as the realization of where he still was hit him.

"It's gonna be fine, Spike," Zack assured him as he went for the knife. "Deep breath," he directed his friend who complied shakily, sucking in air and squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for Zack to pull the knife from his hand. As soon as it was released, he fell back onto the floor, yelling out when he hit the concrete and felt what were like spears of fire shooting up his backside all the way to his neck. His broken arms and wounded chest all ached and stung deeply. Zack tried to help him onto his side but Cloud shouted at him to move away.

"Leave me, Zack!" he commanded through his sobs.

"Cloud, listen—" Zack tried to speak but was cut off quickly.

"GO! PLEASE!" Cloud shouted as loud as he could. His tone softened then as his commands turned into pleas. "Please, Zack. Leave me alone. Please."

Zack didn't know what to say. His friend was hurting so much and he didn't know what to do. Hesitantly, he backed away. He left the room, shutting the door behind him before collapsing on the floor with his back against it. He lowered his head between his knees and covered it with his arms as he cried some angry tears. Back in the room, Cloud had managed to pull himself onto his stomach. With his cheek pressed against the cold floor he sobbed openly. He had never felt like he'd lost so much in his life. The people he loved. His freedom. The person he used to be. His unbreakable will. He hurt all over and there was a sickness coming from the deepest spot of his gut, rising up to take him over. Hojo had taken all these things away from him. Not just taken them but torn them from him savagely. He had changed he and Zack. He was making them breakable.


	23. Chapter 23

_Hey everyone! Boy am I a liar. Well I was hit with a sudden burst of insomnia, hense this chapter is out now instead of on Friday. I can't say for sure that I will have another one out by Friday but it's a good possibility :D_

_Your reviews on the last chapter were **astounding**. I absolutely am blown over by your comments and how much you all like this story. Makes me smile very big and dopey-like! lol _

_I have another warning to issue on this chapter. There are again some graphic scenes...I would hazard to say more graphic than the last chapter. The story is steadily climbing to a point at which Zack and Cloud are going to be experiencing the worst of what Hojo will have to offer them so I would say starting now you should expect at least a little gore in every chapter following. I will continue to issue warnings however when I feel there is content that is more sensitive for some of the readers. So no worries there lol. I won't send you guys in blind or anything. I DID think of using the XXX method in this chapter but I felt it was too hard to divide the chapter and still give a sense of what's going on so with that in mind, if you are worried about the content of this chapter feel free to send my a message and I will happily give you a detailed summary of the chapter (minus the nastier parts lol) so that you won't be left out of the loop at all. I'm hoping that'll be cool with you guys. _

_So yeah, read on and enjoy! Cheers! :D _

_Disclaimer: Original elements of FFVII are under proud (I'm sure) ownership of Square Enix) _

Chapter XXIII

Cloud wasn't sure how long the simulation went on for. He had slipped into unconsciousness by then. It was a true unconsciousness. He didn't even wake when the transmitter helmet was removed from his head and his wrist shackles released from the wall. When he did wake it was to the small vibrations of the clicks being sent by Zack. He could hear the faint sounds of the recording of his screams being played still. How long had it been? How long was Zack going to be able to handle listening to that without going insane? He scanned his body mentally, taking note of the absence of the agony he had been in not too long ago in his mind. His arms and hands still ached deeply as they had before but it was nothing compared to what he'd just experienced. He focused on the clicks then.

_Show me. Teach me the way to heaven…_he was confused by the words. There was something familiar about them. It hit him then. They were lyrics from a song Zack really liked. He said long ago it reminded him of how he feels when he's with Aeris. He hadn't thought about it till then but now he realized that Zack must really miss her. As much as he flirted with every girl he ran into, it felt something different when it came to Aeris. It was real love.

Zack lay in his cell, curled close to the wall at his left, singing out loud as he translated lyrics into code. In his ears the constant screams echoed over and over and over. He was exhausted but they kept him awake. He was so consumed with worry, sickness, and hunger all at the same time. He had come out of the simulation hours ago and the first thing he did was go for the stone in the corner so that he could ask Cloud if he was alright. He repeated his code over and over for near an hour and there was no response from his friend. It scared him. All he could imagine was that Cloud was still stuck in the simulation and that Hojo was going to make him suffer there as long as he could. Faced with his loneliness, he needed to find something to occupy himself, thus he began to tap out the lyrics to the only song in his head at the moment.

Cloud listened to the clicks absent-mindedly. It crossed his mind for a moment that he should tap back a response but he couldn't muster the energy or the care. He pulled himself into a ball, trying to keep his body's heat from escaping him while he shook like a leaf in a windstorm. It wasn't until the lyrical taps broke off suddenly into a desperate plea of _Come on, kid, if you're awake, please, tap back! _that he gave in and searched for his stone.

Zack let his eyes close and expelled a breath of relief when he finally got Cloud's answer, a simple _Hey_.

_I was really worried about you. Are you okay?_ Zack asked. Cloud pressed his forehead to the cold stone wall, squeezing his eyes shut. He could see all the guards standing around him, cheering excitedly as each of their companions took turns assaulting him. The pain had been so unbearable he thought for sure he'd die. It was so vivid and yet it didn't really happen. So why did he feel in the deepest parts of him that it had? His thoughts were chased away momentarily by Zack's taps _Cloud?_

_I don't know_ he responded slowly. He wiped away a few tears with the back of his hand before they had trailed too far down his cheeks.

_Please, just hang in there, buddy, I promise I'll— _

Cloud drew back his ear from the wall, staring at it like it was defective. _Why did he stop mid-sentence? _he wondered. He listened hard. Silence. _Silence_. He couldn't even hear the recording of his screams anymore. A very uneasy feeling began bubbling up from the pit of his stomach. He held his stone at the wall, preparing to ask what had happened. His body jumped a little then as the door to his cell was being unlocked suddenly. The light came on as the door slammed open and he looked up at the goon that shook his head in disapproval. _Oh shit_, Cloud thought, fear gripping him all over as he realized he and Zack had been caught communicating with each other and they were likely in big shit.

The goon came at him. Grabbing his hand holding the stone and prying it from his bandaged fingers. Cloud let out a small cry as he felt sparks of pain jumping through his fingers. The goon shoved the stone in his pocket before unlocking the chain attaching him to the wall and hauling him to his feet by his upper left arm. He was pulled into the hall on shaky legs, not having stood in days. His heart was beating hard in his chest as dread was splashing over him like a title wave.

Up ahead, several meters down the long hall Cloud spotted Zack being dragged off by another goon. Zack looked back, his eyes locking on Cloud's. It was the first time Zack and Cloud had seen each other since their failed escape, not including the shared simulation they had been exposed to. For the first time ever, Cloud thought he saw real fear in Zack's eyes. Something he thought he'd never see.

Cloud felt the urge to dig his heels into the floor as he was being led into Hojo's lab. He wanted to go limp, to become a dead weight and refuse to move any further on his own accord. But he didn't. He began the process of numbing his mind as much as possible as he entered and was pushed to a place near the centre of the room by the exam table. He looked at Zack then. His dark-haired friend had never looked worse to him. He seemed older somehow, stress lines visible on his forehead and he was paler than he'd ever seen him. It seemed as if some of his vitality had been sucked out of him, shattering the indestructible presence he once held.

Hojo approached then with two of his assistants following like white shadows, their lab coats fluttering a little behind them. "Bring him," Hojo commanded the goon next to Zack, who complied without hesitation, pushing Zack up to the exam table. Zack realized then that one of Hojo's assistants was holding a metal-headed mallet in his one hand. "Put your hands on the table, Z1," the professor demanded, looking at Zack hard.

"Fuck you, Professor Screw Loose!" Zack exclaimed firmly. Hojo reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar remote control. Cloud's heart doubled in speed as Hojo pointed it at him and held his thumb on the one button.

"Don't make me ask you twice, Z1," Hojo warned, his thumb pressing just slightly downward. Cloud swore he could feel the small disks implanted under the skin of his scalp heating, ready to spurt shocks of electricity through his head.

Zack lifted his hands and placed them on the cold stainless steel of the table, shaking his head in incredulity. He felt so helplessly weak. It drove him nuts. _I'm not helpless_, he scolded himself. He reminded himself that he was protecting his friend. In any way he could, he would save him from as much pain as possible. Zack's arms trembled in anticipation. He only hoped he could fight the instinct to save himself from what was coming. Hojo leaned toward him then.

"Pull away and C4 loses a hand," he threatened angrily. Zack looked over at Cloud who had paled over the professor's warning. They both knew Hojo was in no way bluffing.

"You goddamn lunatic," Zack seethed. Hojo smirked before stepping aside and leaving the way clear for his assistant gripping the mallet in his hands. Cloud turned his head away as the assistant raised the mallet high. Zack shut his eyes a split second before the hard metal head of the mallet came down on his right hand. It was an eerie moment between the sound of the mallet hitting flesh covered bone and bringing forth a dull snapping sound and when Zack let out a loud cry in response. The pattern was repeated when the mallet connected with his left hand. Zack's second cry was followed up by shaking breathing and low groans of pain. Cloud shook his head. Zack had such restraint. He wished he was like him. If it had been him he'd be sobbing.

"What am I going to do about my little non-compliant specimens?" Hojo pondered aloud as he paced in front of the exam table. "I just don't understand why you keep forcing me to punish you," he continued as he looked at each of the boys. "I give you both the opportunity of a lifetime, to become gods among men, to harness your full potential, and you act in such pathetically juvenile ways." He fixed his eyes on Zack, who was leaning over the table shakily, tears and sweat trailing down his face. Hojo turned then and said something in a low tone to one of his assistants who nodded and headed toward Cloud quickly.

Cloud swallowed hard, not knowing what to expect. The assistant grabbed for his hands and pulled a penknife from his pocket. Cloud pulled back, hitting the goon standing directly behind him. The goon took his wrists firmly and held them for the assistant who began cutting away the bandages on his fingers. His wounded fingers stung in the open air. Cloud was shocked at how bruised they were. The goon pushed him toward the exam table, opposite Zack, and Hojo grabbed the chain between his wrist shackles and pulled his hands up forcefully, plunking them down on the table top. Zack looked down at Cloud's hands painfully, his stomach twisting with sickness. The fingertips where his nails had been ripped off were black and deep blue. The flesh of the beds that had sat under the nails resembled something of raw meat, torn and crusted in dry blood.

"Is that what you like to see, Z1?" Hojo questioned harshly. "Perhaps you like to see C4 suffer. Do you want to watch me pry the rest of his nails from his fingers?" he questioned loudly, his words cutting deep into both Cloud and Zack. Zack met Cloud's eyes, his heavy sky-blue orbs that pleaded so desperately for freedom. Both boys were trembling, tears both traveling down their faces with gravity. "Do you like hearing him sing?"

Hojo snapped his fingers and one of the assistants handed him a large beaker of clear liquid and what looked almost like a turkey baster. He sucked some of the liquid into the baster and nodded at the one goon who held Cloud's forearms firmly. His eyes widened fearfully before slamming shut when Hojo squeezed the liquid onto the tips of his fingers on his right hand. It smelt strongly of acetone. Cloud's body jolted at the force of the pain and though he did his best to suppress it, a hoarse scream erupted from him. He struggled hard to back away from the table but was held tightly by the goon and one of the lab assistants.

"No!" Zack shouted. "Leave him alone!" He fought against the other two goons restraining him. Hojo ignored him, squeezing more of the liquid onto the fingers of Cloud's left hand. Cloud screamed out again, feeling the deep burning sensation ripping at his nerve endings and pain receptors. His chest tightened suddenly, breaking off his cries as his breath caught in his throat. He was only half-aware of what was coming before his body snapped forward and he coughed forcefully. Zack shut his eyes in reflex when his face was hit with several tiny wet droplets of something. His eyes flew open quickly and he followed the light speckles of red across the steel table top and looked at his friend's face. Cloud's forehead was creased with pain but his jaw was slack and a string of bloody saliva dripped down from his lips. He doubled over as he was thrown into a fit of coughing.

Hojo, his assistants, and the goons all seemed somewhat shocked at Cloud's sudden involuntary actions, the one goon and assistant weakening there hold on him and watching him fall to the floor, gripping his stomach as he sputtered more blood onto the hard stone.

"CLOUD!" Zack called out to him, craning his neck to try and see him past the exam table and feeling panic gripping him all over. Hojo yelled something at the two goons behind him and they gripped his arms, dragging him back from the table. "NO!" he protested, trying to pull away from them, trying unsuccessfully to pull his broken hands into fists. "LET ME GO!" he shouted at them angrily as they were taking him from the lab. "What's happening?!" he cried out frantically. It was a losing battle. He only managed to shout Cloud's name one more time before he was out of the lab and being pulled down the hall.

He didn't realize where he was being taken right away. When he did, he was shocked. He was brought into a room he had seen many times but things were very different. He suspected he knew why when a short man who resembled Hojo in many ways entered the room.

"Who the fuck are you?" Zack questioned the man who said nothing. "Where's Dr. Marsh?" he asked next. It was the first time he'd really thought about Marsh and how he hadn't seen her in days.

"Dr. Marsh no longer works at this facility. I am Dr. Gunan," the man replied in a level tone, never looking at Zack. Zack's stomach plummeted hard. Hojo had gotten rid of Marsh. He never thought he would have had the reaction he did. He was worried about her. Worried for Cloud and himself as well. Marsh had been good to them. This doctor oozed of indifference. That suspicion was confirmed through the less than gentle procedure he carried out in casting up Zack's hands.

He was returned to his cell soon enough. Blanketed in darkness and listening again to that godforsaken recording playing over and over. Even if the cell hadn't been swept of all loose materials on the floor, he wouldn't have been able to contact Cloud the way he had before. Hojo had made sure he wouldn't be using his hands anytime soon. He sat facing the wall between his and Cloud's cell feeling his anxiety festering as he wondered about the state of his friend.

Cloud had been returned to his cell just shortly before Zack and he teetered on unconsciousness as his body ached. He felt ill. His mouth was lined in the rusty remnants of his blood. His body shook despite him curling himself up as tightly as he could to stay warm. Yet he knew his temperature was rising.

As the hours passed, Zack found himself tossing and turning on the floor, his head pounding as he tried to imagine away the screams around him. He felt close to the brink of losing it. He pretty much knew when he had. The area filled suddenly with the sounds of the Shinra guards. He sat up, staring at the wall that was no longer barring him from his friend. Instead, he could see into Cloud's cell easily. The guards were crowded around him, some of them holding him down while the others watched and laughed. The guard he had killed was there. Knife in hand, he was cutting away Cloud's clothes, chuckling in amusement when his cuts went too close to Cloud's skin and drew blood. Zack pulled himself up, ready to lunge at the guards and tear each of them to bloody pieces with his bear hands. He was stopped suddenly by a thick layer of glass that prevented him from getting at the guards and Cloud.

"_No!" _he shouted angrily, pounding on the glass. He tried furiously to break it, kicking it, throwing punches at it, throwing his whole body at it. He couldn't even create a crack. Cloud was struggling desperately to fight his way out of the vice-grips of the hands holding him down, letting out startled cries whenever his skin was cut or punctured. A few of the guards kicked at him or threw punches. Zack could see Cloud's head rise off the floor and fall back down each time he was hit in the gut. He was dragged up, his naked body thrown at the glass in front of Zack, where his legs buckled and he fell to the floor on his hands and knees. He tried to pull himself up, gripping the glass but the guards were back on him, two of them keeping him from rising. Zack lowered himself to his knees in front of the glass, his hands pressing against it. Cloud looked up at him, his face shrouded in pain and terror. The guard named Tass, the one Zack had killed, lowered himself behind Cloud, he reached around and under Cloud's torso, closing a hand around his neck and pulling him back on his knees roughly, pressing his body to Clouds as he unfastened his pants. He pulled Cloud onto him as he sat back on his heels and a loud cry was torn from Cloud's lips.

Zack let out a frustrated scream, pounding his fists into the glass as hard as he could, ignoring his own pain as the skin on his knuckles split and his blood seeped out. The guard watched Zack with heightened pleasure, holding the pain-paralyzed young body in front of him tightly, moving with the encouragement of Cloud's vocalized agony. He reached down then, taking his knife back up in his hand. He smiled sadistically at Zack before driving the blade of the knife hard into Cloud's gut. Zack choked on the air in his lungs. Cloud's eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. Tass pushed the blade deeper, turning it slow and drawing guttural gasps and sounds from Cloud's mouth while Cloud's blood covered his hand and the handle of the knife. A minute passed and glow faded in Cloud's eyes before his head began to fall.

"NO! CLOUD! NO!" Zack screamed through choked back sobs, his palms against the glass. Blood dripped from Cloud's lips and his limp head swayed a little from Tass' thrusts. A long moan left the guard's throat as he reached the height of his pleasure and his shoulders sagged as he finished. He ripped the knife from Cloud's stomach, blood spilling out fast from the wound. He pushed Cloud's body off him, letting him fall lifeless on the floor. Zack's eyes were glued to his friend as he watched a circle of red quickly building up around him. He lifted his eyes when a shadow fell over him. He stared up at Tass, standing in front of the glass, grinning at him, the bloody knife held loosely in his hand. The guards left then and Zack went nuts, slamming himself up against the glass, trying to bust it down. It was no use.

Zack collapsed in defeat, his forehead pressed against the glass as his panting breaths turned into sobs. "Cloud please," he begged softly. "Don't go..." He lowered his head then as he cried.

"Your emotions make you weak, Fair," a sharp voice caught his attention. He looked up, his heart skipping over a beat when found himself face to face with his former general.

"Sephiroth," Zack said in awe, barely above a whisper. The general rose from his crouched position. The glass vanished then and Zack fell forward as his hand was left leaning on thin air. He tore his eyes from the general and scrambled to get to Cloud. Sephiroth waved his hand and Cloud disappeared. "No…where did he go?" Zack questioned aloud as he stared down at the only thing left of his friend, a dark pool of red. "Seph, what did you do?!" he questioned frantically, pulling himself to his feet.

Sephiroth chuckled lowly. "You can't fight against Hojo's plans for you, Zackary. He's going to turn you into the monster you were meant to be. Just like me."

"Goddamn you, Seph!" Zack yelled, stepping up close to the silver-haired man. "This is all your fault! You're the reason Cloud and I are here! How could you do it? How could you kill all those people, Cloud's mother?"

"You're so adorably naïve, Zack," Sephiroth sneered, crossing his arms in front of him. "Just like Angeal."

"Don't you dare talk about him!" Zack warned.

"Ooh. Soft spot is it?" the general mocked.

"Angeal was a good man. He was your friend, but I guess that means nothing to you," Zack spoke forcefully.

"Friendship is an illusion, Zackary. All that really matters…is destiny."

"You're so full of shit, Seph. I'm done listening to you. Now, bring Cloud back!" he demanded.

Sephiroth's mouth drew a wide smirk. "You can't save him, Zack. He will become what Hojo makes him or he will die. And so will you."

"SHUT UP!" Zack shouted as he lunged at the general. The tall man vaporized as Zack reached him. Zack met with the wall and turned back to be faced with the darkness of his stone cell. The recording of Cloud's screams echoed in his ears from the speakers. "NO!" he cried loudly, trying to keep the sounds from getting into his ears. He slid down the one wall, sitting with his back to it, covering his head with his arms. Sephiroth's laughter mingled with the screams. "SHUT UP!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Unable to take it anymore, he slammed his head back against the stone wall hard. There was only a brief flash of pain before his body went numb. He was only vaguely aware of the floor as his face pressed against it before he was falling through into a world of darkness.


	24. Chapter 24

_Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all your reviews on the last chapter! Looks like ya'll enjoyed it quite a bit which makes me very happy :D _

_Well instead of working today I have to work tomorrow which is why I have this update for you now. It's a little shorter but I felt it appropriate to end it where I did. It won't take too long for me to come up with the next chapter I don't think. I have it started already. So yeah, read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: "Duff beer for me, Duff beer for you, I'll have a Duff, you have one too..." oh and I don't own FFVII. _

Chapter XXIV

Cloud lifted his head from the floor when he heard Zack's loud scream finish with a dull cracking sound. There was nothing then but the same faint sounds of the recording that to him were only whispers. His heart felt like it had stopped. Something had just happened to Zack though he wasn't sure what. He sat up slowly, sliding toward the wall and placing his ear against it. He had a very bad feeling.

"ZACK!" he shouted as loud as his voice would go. _Zack, what happened to you?_ he wondered worriedly. He sat back, waiting nervously and straining is ears to pick up any sound at all coming from Zack. The wait was excruciating. He came close to dropping off a few times from exhaustion but he forced himself to stay awake, pressing down on one of his injured fingers whenever he thought he was about to fall asleep, the pain sending a spark of adrenaline through him.

When he had sat for what had to have been near three hours, his impatience got the best of him. He _knew_ something was wrong with Zack. He would have found a way by now to let Cloud now he was okay. Grasping the wall next to him, he pulled himself to his feet. Something told him there would be a goon somewhere in the hall. Hojo wasn't going to give them another opportunity to escape, even if it was impossible at this point. Cloud began shouting to whoever was out there.

"HEY! I WANT TO SEE HOJO! TAKE ME TO HOJO!" he practically screamed it, over and over, making as much noise as he could, banging his shackles and chains against the wall. He called out until he physically couldn't anymore, collapsing on the floor and breathing hard, his chest aching and his throat stinging harshly. He fought his lungs from breaking out into a fit of bloody coughing as he sat and stared at the door to the cell feeling failure beginning to set in.

He nearly jumped from his skin when he heard a key being shoved into the lock in the door. The lights flickered on and Cloud met the eyes of the professor as he stepped into the room looking anything but pleased. Cloud pulled together his strength, leaning against the wall as he brought himself to his feet once again. He was about to speak but the professor beat him to it.

"I'm very interested to know, C4, where you got the sudden audacity to _request_ to see _me_," Hojo spoke in clear irritation. Cloud suppressed his nervousness enough to speak.

"What's happened to Zack?" he questioned, his voice coming out a little cracked and coarse. Hojo eyed him curiously.

"Whatever do you mean, C4?"

Cloud didn't know exactly what to reply with but a sudden burst of anger took him over. "_Something _has happened…And why are you still making him listen to that goddamn recording?" he asked, his voice climbing near shouting level as he directed his hands at Zack's cell.

"I gave him forty-eight hours, you gave him thirty-seven. By my watch he's still got…twenty-seven hours," Hojo explained simply before clasping his hands behind his back casually.

Cloud felt his face grow hot with his anger. "Why are you still punishing us? How could it possibly be helping your project?!" he challenged the old professor, stepping a little closer to him.

"Calm down, C4, you're going to make yourself sick," Hojo said with a smirk. "Perhaps you need something to occupy you. Would you like another simulation?" he added in amusement, basking in satisfaction over his own cruelty.

"Fucking psycho," Cloud muttered lowly, clenching his fists and ignoring the pain in his fingers as he imagined beating the old man into the stone floor. Hojo chuckled lightly as he turned to leave.

"_Never_ request to see me again, C4, unless you are prepared to give me some extra experimentation time with you," he said firmly before stepping out of the room. The goon in the hall stepped in to grab the door handle. The door slammed shut a second later and was locked.

"FUCK!" Cloud shouted in frustration before running his hands through his hair that was in serious need of a good cut and washing. He lowered himself to the floor again trying to think of something. He had to see Zack. He rubbed his chest, feeling it tightening hard. _Wish I knew what the hell is wrong with me_, he thought to himself. In response, the oxygen in his chest seemed to become toxic, forcing him to hack out a handful of blood and fluid. As he sat trembling after, a plan began to formulate in his head. It was a long shot, but it's all he had.

000

The goon named Syrus was bored out of his mind. His entire shift that day had been spent guarding the only two occupied cells down the long dank hall in the D-Wing. To him it was pointless. _Them boys aren't going anywhere_, he thought to himself as he played with the keys on his key ring. If the job hadn't paid so much he'd of been long gone. He found he was raking in just enough cash every week to be able to turn his head on the crazy shit the professor did to his subjects. He and the others had been specifically told to treat the specimens like the rats they were and that was that. Still, it got hard. Sometimes the screams were a little too much to handle, and that's all he seemed to hear these days. _Maybe that's why Doner left_, he thought. No one had seen the goon in days.

He was pulled from his mindless occupation with his keys by the specimen in Cell B going nuts again. Earlier he had been demanding to see Hojo and now he was screaming about something else. Syrus stepped up outside the cell door and listened.

"HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE! THE BLEEDING WON'T STOP! OH GOD!" the specimen screamed in what seemed to be genuine terror.

Syrus sighed, looking at his keys and debating on what to do. The professor had specified that he was not to open the doors, not even for C4's demands, whatever they be. Still, he doubted the nutbar would be impressed if he had left one of his specimens to bleed to death either. Hojo had left the building for the night so he couldn't consult him either. Hesitantly, he pushed the key into the lock in the door and turned it.

Cloud's heart leapt when the door to his cell began to open. _Finally_, he thought. _Stay focused…_

The goon stepped into the cell slowly, looking somewhat shocked as he stared at Cloud. Cloud's one arm was covered in blood.

"Help me! This has happened before, I'm gonna bleed to death!" Cloud cried out to the goon, who came forward.

"Let's see," he demanded, crouching in front of Cloud.

_Now or never_, Cloud told himself as he let his fist fly quick, hitting the goon in the left side of his face. The goon's head swung to the side and before he recovered, Cloud swung his arms over his head pulling the chain between his wrist shackles tight against the goon's neck. He held on with every bit of strength as the large man struggled, one hand reaching for the chain that was choking him and the other for Cloud's hands. Desperately, he threw himself backward, slamming Cloud down on the floor. A small cry left Cloud's lips but he maintained his hold. He now had the huge body lying on top of him, constricting his own breathing.

The goon was weakening with every second his oxygen supply was cut off but he wasn't giving up easy by any stretch. A hard elbow drove itself into Cloud's side, making him release his tight pull on the chain at the goon's neck for just a second but he got it back. The goon was getting frantic. He reached for his keys. Taking one of the longer ones in his fist, he jammed it into Cloud's thigh. Cloud cried out loudly, releasing the goon and gripping his leg, wondering what the hell has just happened to it. The goon rose quickly, coughing roughly and holding his neck. He headed for the door. Cloud was pissed at himself. He'd just blown it. But he was desperate and the goon hadn't left yet…

"WAIT!" he shouted as he pulled himself up. "I'm sorry!"

The goon turned back to look at him. He seemed taken aback by Cloud's words. "You're sorry?" he questioned in disbelief. "You just tried to kill me, ya little jerk!" He shook his head and took another step towards the door.

"No! That's not what I was trying to do!"

The goon halted again. "Well, what then?"

"I was just…trying to knock you out," Cloud explained uneasily, grasping his leg that bleeding from the key wound.

The goon scoffed as he crossed his big arms in front of him. "Why? So you and your buddy could make another escape?"

Cloud shook his head. "I just…need to see him. Something's wrong. I know it."

"He's fine," the goon spoke firmly.

"How do you know? Have you seen him?" Cloud shot back at him, a hint of irritation in his tone. The goon's expression seemed to suggest he really had no idea. The goon turned away from him quickly then, shutting the door behind him fast, leaving Cloud in darkness. A wave of helplessness seemed to be rising up over him then. He would be flooded in his own emotions any second. He had just started to sit back down when the door flew open again.

"He's fine. I checked," the goon said quickly. He was about to pull the door closed when Cloud stopped him with a question.

"What's he doing?" Cloud asked frantically, eager to know anything he could get out of the goon.

"He's sleeping."

Cloud thought about it for a moment. _Sleeping? _It didn't seem right. How could he be sleeping? "No…he can't be," he replied surely. The goon exhaled forcefully.

"Well, he is, now shut up and leave me alone."

"Wait! It's not right! You've heard what Hojo's making him listen to, could you sleep through that?!" He waited a moment, relief washing over him when the goon stepped back in.

"So whatda ya want then, kid?" the goon asked.

"I wanna see him," he began. The goon looked at him like he was mental. "Please! You can bring me in there, I won't give you trouble, I swear."

The goon shook his head. "Sorry, kid, but it ain't worth losing my job over."

Cloud lowered his head. _Come on, think! _he scolded himself. A dreaded thought came over him. It all came down to what mattered more to him, his friend, or his pride. "Please. I'll do…anything you want," he said as levelly as he could, trying to keep his voice from shaking. The goon looked down at him, slight confusion on his face. When the realization of what Cloud was offering hit him he looked incredulous. He came toward Cloud, stepping directly in front of him, his large body towering over Cloud's. He looked down into Cloud's eyes. So determined yet so fearful.

"Anything?" he questioned Cloud softly.

"Yes," Cloud answered barely above a whisper. His shackled hands reached towards the goon's waistband. Cloud pulled the zipper open on his pants but as he prepared to reach in the goon placed a large hand on his chest and shoved him back hard. His back hit the wall and he fell to his knees.

"Jesus Christ, kid!" the goon spoke in slight astonishment as he took some steps back and zipped his pants back up. "You really think I'm the kinda man that could do something like that? Well sorry, but I ain't no pervert." He shook his head as he observed Cloud from where he was. Sitting himself down with his back to the wall, shame and defeat blanketing him.

_Fuck me_, Syrus thought to himself as he stared at the boy now shivering where he sat. _I'm gonna regret this_, he told himself as he took his keys from his pocket and walked up to the boy, crouching to unlock and remove the chain attaching him to the wall. The kid looked up at him in sheer surprise. "Just hurry the fuck up, alright?" he told him as he gripped his one arm and helped him stand.

"Thank you," Cloud said to the goon genuinely. He couldn't believe he was going to let him see Zack. "What's your name?" he asked him. The goon hesitated a moment before answering him.

"It's Syrus," he said gruffly as they headed into the hall.

"My name's Cloud."

"No offense, kid, but I don't want to know your name," Syrus spoke without looking at him as he unlocked Zack's cell. He opened the door and pushed Cloud in.

For a moment, Cloud thought perhaps Syrus was right. Zack did appear to be asleep. He was lying on his side with his eyes closed and seemed peaceful enough. But that same peacefulness drove dreaded suspicion into him. Zack was a light sleeper. He stirred at practically any noise. Something that just happened to you being a SOLDIER, Zack had told him once. He lowered himself in front of his friend. He said his name as he reached a hand out to his shoulder. He drew back fast when he felt how cold Zack was. Fear gripped him then as he began shaking Zack, trying to wake him. He placed a hand on the back of his friend's head and felt something sticky. Peering over Zack and shifting him slightly he felt himself nearly choking on air as he stared down at a small pool of thick blood. Cloud felt panic rushing through him then.

"Zack! Wake up!" he called to him loudly, lifting his upper body and trying to get him into a sitting position. "Come on, Zack! Please!"

Syrus had entered then and stood frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do. Cloud looked back at him.

"He needs a doctor! Now!" Cloud shouted at him. Syrus stepped back into the hall, taking out his cell to make the call. "Zack, come on. Open your eyes," Cloud begged his friend. It was no use. The new doctor and his assistants came and collected Zack shortly and Syrus began leading Cloud back to his cell. "No!" he shouted before Syrus could pull him through the door. "Take me to Hojo," he demanded firmly.

"Hojo's not here—" Syrus began to explain.

"Then call him! He'll be here fast if he knows I asked for him."

Cloud waited while Syrus called up Hojo on his phone and listened to their conversation silently.

"Sir, Z1 is in the medical sector," Syrus spoke. "No idea…the other one has asked to see you again." Cloud could tell Hojo was silent on the other end. "Sir?" Syrus questioned, not sure if the professor had hung up.

Cloud could hear Hojo's response clearly. "Bring him to the lab. I'll be there shortly."


	25. Chapter 25

_Okay, I am going to KILL my internet. This is the SECOND time I've written this A/N so it better freakin' post! Well I had written out a really nice apology to y'all but now you get the short version lol. Basically, I had a lot of problems trying to reply to your reviews (which I am so very very greatful for). Everytime I tried to post a reply I'd get an error so if you don't get a reply I am very sorry. I'm going to try to update again this weekend while I'm on holidays. We'll see how that goes lol. Cheers guys. _

_Disclaimer: FFVII property of Square Enix. _

Chapter XXV

The professor came through the lab door like a nasty wind, blowing into the lab with such force it's a wonder the stacks of papers on his desk didn't go flying. He marched up to Cloud, glaring at him through his thick, dark-rimmed glasses.

"You surprise me, yet again, C4," he said in clear irritation. "I didn't think you could possibly be so stupid."

Cloud thought Hojo was about to hit him but he didn't. His face was red with anger. "I want Zack's punishment," Cloud declared firmly.

"You what?" Hojo questioned.

"Zack has about a day of punishment left, I want to take it for him," Cloud explained, never taking his eyes off the professor's, though he so hated looking into those black, pitiless orbs.

"And what makes you think I would be willing to do that?" the old man questioned, looking honestly interested in Cloud's answer.

"I don't see why you would refuse. Zack's in the med-sector, which means you're not accomplishing anything. This way you can continue on with punishing one of us."

Hojo studied Cloud long and hard. To Cloud, he seemed almost intrigued."I told you not to request to see me again unless you were prepared to give me some additional experimentation time with you, C4," he spoke at last.

"Well…that's what I'm offering," Cloud answered definitively, trying not to think about what that really meant for him.

"Fine," Hojo agreed at last. "I have been eager to test out a new procedure for mako infusion. So let's not waste any time shall we? I need to prep. Bring the specimen back to his cell and I'll call for you when I'm ready," he directed Syrus who gave a firm nod and began leading Cloud back down the long hall to the right. After the goon had chained him back to the wall Cloud looked up at him. Syrus shook his head at him and scoffed before turning and leaving.

The wait was excruciating. It wasn't that Cloud was excited to experience the new mako procedure. Rather, he was dreading it, and that's why every passing minute was made painful as he feared the door opening and Syrus taking him back to the lab. His thoughts dwelled on Zack as well. He wished there was some way he could know if his friend was okay—or rather, what his condition was. Cloud knew he wasn't okay. He'd split his own head open trying to escape the torture he'd been enduring for days. He wanted the Zack he knew back. He wanted himself back. And he wanted to go one night without dreaming something that scared him out of his mind.

000

It didn't take too long for Hojo to have Cloud brought back to the lab. Once there, his shackles were removed and he was told to lie down on the exam table on his stomach. Cloud stared at two trays next to the table as he was climbing onto it. One of them was outlaid with several syringes filled with a clear liquid and the other with more syringes filled with what must have been mako. It was characteristically green. Hojo spoke to his assistants as Cloud was lowering himself onto his stomach on the cold steel.

"There are two rounds of injections," the professor explained as the assistants scribbled down notes. "The first is a protein binder that will hopefully bind the mako more adequately to the body's cells without changing their structure. The second is a compound we have created combining mako with a variety of minerals and vitamins that the body appears to lose more quickly when it is mako enhanced."

"The injections will be made directly into the spinal column," he went on, touching a spot on Cloud's back. He flinched slightly, not expecting it. "There are twelve altogether."

The professor's tone changed then. Cloud looked up at Hojo to see his face outfitted in a rather devious smirk. _The psycho's loving this_, Cloud thought to himself.

"Now normally I would have the specimen sedated for a procedure like this," Hojo said to his assistants before directing his gaze down at Cloud's face "but since you practically volunteered, I would hope you're not going to be flailing around too much. I really wouldn't suggest it either. There's already a chance of paralysis without you jumping around and causing a mistake on my part. So keeping still would be recommended. There won't be any anesthetic either. You did, after all, _want_ to be punished."

"Potential complications, professor?" one of the assistants questioned shyly.

"There is a chance of damage to the nervous system if the spinal cord is touched by one of the needles so it is important to keep an eye on how deep the insertion is. Also, the additional fluid added to the body will likely result in a slight increase in pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid. This may have some side affects on the specimen such as elevated heart rate, increase in respiration rate, and headache."

Cloud turned his head away from the trays at his right. He would have preferred not to have heard that big speech by Hojo. The last thing he wanted was to end up paralyzed because of some stupid test.

"Let's proceed," Hojo said then. Cloud closed his eyes, waiting nervously for the experiment to begin. He gasped softly when the first needle touched the skin somewhere in the centre of his back between his shoulder blades. A moment later, he was gripping the sides of the table hard as he felt the needle digging down into his flesh. He fought back the urge to cry out as he felt the needle delve slowly deeper. The pressure was incredible. He could have sworn the needle was a goddamn sword coming through him. Gritting his teeth hard he felt the sensation of cool liquid entering his tissue. Almost instantly the spot was aching. By the time Hojo was inserting the sixth needle, he was trying his best to keep still and stop himself from jumping up off the table. He dreaded the second round. The mako would be torture. It always was.

"The first round of injections is complete. We will need to wait ten minutes for the protein binder to set in before the mako can be injected," Hojo spoke somewhat anxiously.

Cloud waited nervously as the lab assistants were prepping the second round. His spine felt alive with dull, prodding pain and a subtle itchy feeling. He could feel something running slowly down his left side. Lifting his arm a little and peering under it he could see a thin line of blood trailing over his pale and goosebumped flesh, dropping onto the steel table top silently. He shut his eyes then, taking a breath in slow and trying to think of something else. _What day is it? _he wondered. _A day or so after Christmas? Hmph…Christmas…_

He thought back on his last Christmas. It had been spent working. Providing protection coverage of a very high-class party in the middle of the city. It was a less than exciting way to spend the night, standing outside in the cold winter air for ten hours watching people coming and going in expensive vehicles and limousines; keeping the _scum _of the streets from waltzing on in to the exclusive gathering. He had returned to the barracks at around 4:30 a.m., cold and smelling vaguely of liquor that was spilt on him by a few people leaving the party and vomit from one of the random street drunks he'd stopped from entering the building. There were two letters sitting atop his mattress. One was from his mother, the other from Tifa. He read his mother's first. It was much like any other letter she had wrote him. She masked her sadness and loneliness with the use of positive words but they never fooled him. He always felt guilty when he read her letters. After all, it was partly his fault she was so lonely. There were so many times he wanted to just throw in the towel and go back home but he fought against the urge. There was no future for him there.

A smile came over him when he read Tifa's letter. Somehow she could always pull a smile out from him. _I have a gift here for you but I want to give it to you in person. You must come visit sometime soon, Cloud. I miss you more than my words can show…_

Lying there on the icy exam table in Hojo's lab, Cloud wondered what Tifa would be doing now…if she were alive. He still wasn't able to convince himself she had survived. He hoped…but hope had never got him anything in life so far.

"It's been ten minutes, sir," one of the lab assistants spoke then.

"Let's proceed," Hojo responded, moving up next to the table once again.

Cloud increased his grip on the sides of the table when the first needle of the second round of injections entered the tiny hole that had been made in the first round. He felt the immediate heat of the mako when it entered his bloodstream. It wasn't pure so it didn't produce the instant sear he was accustomed to. Still, his pain receptors fired up after a few moments and he could feel the muscles of his back tensing on their own, despite him trying to keep relaxed. His head was already aching deeply and his heart was beating hard in his chest. The second needle entered and this time the pain was incredible. It shot through him like electricity and he gasped as his body jerked against the rush of the mako.

"Remember what I said about staying still, C4?" Hojo's words entered his ear from above.

"Yes…" he breathed. "_I'm trying_…" His knuckles were turning white as he gripped the table.

"Well try harder," Hojo said, his tone shrouded in irritation. He pushed the third needle into the skin of Cloud's back. Some hot tears broke away from Cloud's eyes then as he squeezed them shut tightly and tried to keep breathing. His abdominal and chest muscles tensed hard and clenched themselves. His back went into a light spasm and jerked him again as he let out a small cry. He heard Hojo let out a sigh of annoyance before two hands clamped down on his shoulders and another two on the backs of his thighs. He was thankful because he doubted there was any way he would be able to keep himself under control through the next three injections. By the last one, his body was shuddering. There was a steady stream of tears coming out of him as he panted and struggled to take in air.

When the procedure was over, he drew in a deep breath, letting it out shakily as he held back the urge to sob. His whole back ached almost unbearably and though he was told he couldn't move for the next forty-five minutes he didn't think he'd be able to anyway. His limbs felt numb. His head and heart pounded hard and he felt as though his whole body was being pressed in a garbage compacter. Hojo and his assistants observed him for what seemed like forever, scribbling down pages of notes. Finally, Hojo called for assistants from the med-sector to come with a gurney to the lab. He had Cloud moved onto it and directed them to take him for observation.

"Make sure the specimen stays flat for the next eight hours," he demanded. "If the procedure was successful he should be ready for another one by then."

Cloud felt crushed as he thought about enduring that whole procedure a second time. _Don't think about it right now_, he told himself as he was being wheeled from the lab to the med-sector. The doctor there wiped down his back, cleaning it of blood and spinal fluid that had seeped out over his skin from the injection areas. He attached sensors to monitor his breathing and heart rate before inserting an IV into his one arm and attaching a saline drip. The whole time, Cloud was consumed with wonder over what had happened to Dr. Marsh. Eventually, he had to question the new doctor.

"Wha-what happened to D-Dr. Marsh?" he asked, his voice barely squeezing its way out his trembling lips.

"She no longer works here," the doctor replied casually, staring at the monitors and taking note of Cloud's vitals.

"Why?" Cloud questioned next, trying to ignore a subtle rattling in his chest he had come to associate with a burst of coughing that would have him expelling the usual blood and lung fluid. Somehow the doctor had picked up on it. He placed a stethoscope to Cloud's back. He pulled it from his ears as he went for something in a nearby drawer. He tore open a plastic package and pulled an unused syringe from it. Cloud felt his anxiety climb high as the doctor came toward him, placing a hand on his back.

"Stay still," the doctor commanded before driving the syringe firmly into his back. Cloud let out a cry from the sudden sharp pain, his mind wracked in confusion over what the doctor was doing to him. A moment later, the doctor stepped back with the syringe in his hand as he lifted his glasses to look more closely at the contents. Cloud was relieved over the release of pressure he felt in his chest, the rattling having disappeared once again.

"Hmm…" the doctor mused as he set the syringe down and went for a file on the nearby counter. He looked through it for a minute before picking the syringe up once more and heading toward the door. "Make sure he doesn't move. I'll be back shortly," the doctor said to someone before leaving. Cloud glanced back to see Syrus standing near the door. He focused then on the curtain at his left.

"Syrus," Cloud called to the goon softly. "Is Zuh-Zack on the other side?" he questioned, keeping his eyes on the curtain.

The goon sighed before answering. "He is."

Cloud pulled himself shakily onto his elbows, reaching out his left arm shakily and trying to grip the curtain. Syrus stopped him then, stepping between his hand and the curtain. "You brain dead, kid? Quit movin' around," he spoke forcefully. Cloud fell back onto his chest, sucking in air in soft gasps as his torso screamed painfully at him and his muscles continued to seize.

"I-I want to see him," Cloud insisted as he began a second attempt at rising. Syrus threw a hand down on his back, keeping him flat. Cloud was about to protest but Syrus raised a hand in a gesture that told him to shut up. He rolled his eyes before pulling the curtain back slowly. Cloud gripped the guardrail at the side of the bed and stared through it at Zack. His head was wrapped in a white bandage. Other than that, he seemed fine. There was a saline drip on him but no other wires or tubes. "He looks okay, right?" Cloud questioned Syrus. Syrus took a quick glance at him.

"Heh…better than you," he said lightly. He closed the curtain then.

"Thanks Syrus," Cloud said to him. Syrus gave him a nod and an awkward tight smile before moving away from him to go back and stand by the door.

A short time later, the doctor returned, announcing that Cloud needed to be prepped for surgery. Despite Cloud's questions, the doctor said nothing to him. He had him wheeled to the operating room where one of his assistants anesthetized him. As much as he hated the nightmares of the unconscious world, he did love the painlessness of it. Thus, he was eager to slip into that blackness.

000

"Lead poisoning," the doctor said definitively, his hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

"Lead poisoning?" Hojo questioned, his one eyebrow raised up in disbelief. "How could we have missed that for so long?" He stared down at the test results in his hands that the doctor had given him.

"The normal signs his blood would have shown were masked by the mako effects," the doctor explained.

"And how did this happen?"

The doctor took his hand from his one pocket. He handed Hojo one of the slightly corroded disks he had taken from Cloud's head. Hojo looked up at him in surprise.

"Why just C4? Why not Z1 as well?"

"You've enforced the use of the punishment mechanism on C4, and not Z1, correct?"

"That's correct…"

"The elements in the metal must have been destabilized by the use of it, causing the lead to be leached out into his bloodstream."

Hojo was quiet a moment while he contemplated. "Well the discs are necessary for the simulation tests," he pointed out.

"As long as you don't implement the use of the punishment mechanism it should be fine," the doctor insisted. "C4's health should improve substantially now."

000

Feeling the ground moving beneath him, Cloud was vaguely aware of being wheeled out of the med-sector on a gurney and into the lab. He couldn't feel much of anything besides an overall heavy sensation. His body felt made of concrete. He had to work out in hazy mind why it was he was being brought to the lab. When he saw the trays outfitted with the series of needles it was clear he was there for round two of the new mako infusion procedure. He sighed mentally, feeling silly for thinking he would be spared from it in light of just undergoing a surgical procedure. He was still breathing after all. That alone made him a viable test subject.

All the sounds around him he heard as if listening through a cup. He felt only the most intense of the pain that came with the mako injections. Despite the torturous ache, he couldn't help but be thankful he could still feel the pain. In the back of his mind he had been worried that perhaps the first procedure had inflicted some form of damage on him that would lead to paralysis.

When the procedure was over, he was once again brought back to the med-sector to be monitored. His body was shuddering against the affects of the mako but all he felt at that point was the tremendous pressure in his head. Every sound and bit of light seemed to increase the pain. He prayed for unconsciousness when he was left in the med-sector by Hojo's assistants. He knew he was on the verge. All he needed was that extra push. At some point, his prayers were answered and his awareness slipped into darkness before the doctor had come in to tend to him.

Zack awoke after what seemed like a hundred year sleep to the feeling of someone pulling something from his arm. He forced his eyes open to see the doctor removing an IV tube from him.

"What…what's happening?" he questioned groggily. He tried to think back on the last thing he remembered but drew a blank.

"You gave yourself a hairline fracture in the back of your head. You're fine now," the doctor explained. "Someone will bring you back to your room."

Syrus entered the area and came to Zack's bedside, taking his upper arm and urging him off the bed slowly.

As Zack was being led out of the room he caught a glance of Cloud lying face down on a gurney. His head was wrapped in a white bandage and his back was marred in dribbles of drying blood and developing bruises. Zack halted in Syrus' grip, stepping back to see if he had imagined what he saw.

"Cloud, wha—" Zack struggled in confusion to speak and make sense of what he was seeing. Syrus pulled on his arm, trying to urge him along. Still shocked over seeing Cloud as he was, Zack let himself get pulled along into the hall before he snapped out of his trance-like state. "Wait, what happened to him?" He realized then they weren't headed back down to the D-Wing. He was led to one of the regular white cells. "What the hell is going on?" he questioned.

"Isn't it obvious, mate?" Syrus spoke then, bringing Zack into the cell. "The kid's taken a hit for you."

"You mean…" Zack was trying frantically to wrap his mind around what had happened.

Syrus scoffed. "Enjoy your rest, the professor won't be after you for at least a day I'm sure."

Syrus left then. Zack leaned back against the one wall. He touched the back of his still aching and bandaged head. "What'd you do, Spike?" he questioned aloud.


	26. Chapter 26

_Hey all! Well last weekend I ended up being super-busy so I couldn't get this out but I basically have Chapter 27 done, i just need to edit it so it'll be out sometime tomorrow probably, if not tonight :P _

_Thank you all for your ama-ZA-zing reviews! LOL! You are all such awesome people! Hope you all enjoy the update :D _

_Disclaimer: Original FFVII material belongs to Square Enix. Red jelly beans do not. _

Chapter 26

"Uh…ah…uhnn…" Cloud let out a series of groans as he was coming to, a deep prodding ache rising fast in his back. His chest wasn't doing any better, seeing as he had spent the past twenty-four hours lying on it. Something _was _different though. He didn't have the same heavy feeling in his chest that he had had for so long. He wondered just what it was the doctor had done to him. Whatever it was, he was thankful. He was breathing easily for the first time in a long time. He flexed his fingers. They felt stiff, the tips still sore beneath their bandages. His arms and legs were tingly with mild numbness. _At least I can still move them_, he thought to himself. He realized then as he gazed out through the guardrail on the gurney that the bed Zack had been lying in earlier was empty. He sighed, wishing his friend were still there. He had hoped to have the chance to talk to him. He had a strong suspicion that Hojo had no intention of having them anywhere near each other since their last escape attempt. He must have known now that the only way they would try to get out is if they were together. It was a definite blow to the mentality knowing that fact. _We're gonna be down here forever…_Cloud thought sadly, closing his eyes to block out the bright lights of the room.

Zack sat in his cell staring at the door. He rubbed his arms against the cold. Thankfully he had been awarded some pants and a t-shirt but the thin cotton of the shirt did little to keep him warm. Only once had the door opened since he'd been in the cell. One of the goons brought in a pile of vitamins and a bowl of soupy sustenance and left. That was hours ago. During that time, he'd done nothing but ponder over what the one goon had said to him. _The kid's taken a hit for you_. He was almost positive he knew what it meant. Cloud had convinced Hojo to give him an extended punishment rather than Zack having to finish with his. Whatever Cloud had agreed to, it hadn't looked good. He worried about him; about what Hojo was doing to him. At that moment, he deeply regretted having that breakdown in the D-Wing…

Back in the med-sector, a sudden rush of nausea came over Cloud. Sweat broke out over his back. It had been near a week since he'd had a mako treatment before this one and the sick feeling was intense. He had rarely thrown up after a treatment the past few months. He just breathed through the nagging feeling in his stomach and willed it away. But now, he knew without a doubt his stomach was doing backflips to try and empty itself.

"Doctor?" he called out softly, realizing just then he had no idea what the new doctor's name was. There was no reply. "Doctor? Sir?" he called out louder. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach as he tried to keep its contents from rising up. When again there was no reply he grew a little panicked. He didn't want to find himself lying in his own vomit, which is exactly what he'd be doing shortly. "Someone! Anyone!"

The door to the room opened then and he heard someone enter quickly. In a second, Syrus was at the side of the gurney. "What is it?" he asked tiredly.

"I'm gonna—" Cloud began to try and explain when he felt his body trying to heave and he clapped a hand over his mouth. Syrus didn't need the whole explanation. He struggled briefly to lower the guardrail on the gurney then reached down for a small trash can on the floor near the corner. He brought it to the side of the gurney and Cloud reached for it hurriedly, leaning over the side just as he heaved and began to expel bile and what could only be thought of as mako-byproduct.

Syrus held the can, looking to the door nervously. He looked down at Cloud, watching his back as it lurched and shuddered. He scolded himself mentally for feeling bad for him. He had only been working for the professor for a little over a week and he had assured Hojo he could separate himself from his conscience while he worked but the past few days he had felt nothing but sympathy for the "subjects," especially Cloud. He had talked to a few of the lab assistants. The kid was only sixteen, a suspected orphan with a bleak past and even bleaker future. Syrus had learned from his fellow goons about some of the shit Cloud and Zack had had to deal with since becoming Hojo's subjects. They had been harassed mercilessly by several of the Shinra guards before Hojo decided to hire the goons. Even then, it wasn't smooth sailing. It was no secret that Vince Vallow had made their lives a lot more miserable and while details were never really discussed, it was a general consensus among the goons that Vallow had pushed just a little too far causing Cloud to give one hell of a shove back.

Staring down at the thin form of the boy next to him, Syrus found it difficult to imagine Cloud capable of taking down someone that much larger than him. He knew, however, from first-hand experience, that Cloud was not to be underestimated.

Cloud coughed then. It was followed up by the sound of him spitting out what was left in his mouth. Syrus reached to the nearby counter for a tissue and held it out to Cloud. Cloud took it slowly, using it to wipe the edges of his mouth before dropping it in the trash can that Syrus set down on the floor.

"Thank you," Cloud muttered shakily, his whole body now shivering as he lay his head back down on the gurney. Syrus pulled the guardrail back up on the side. Cloud closed his eyes, breathing in slow, trying to relax his overly tense body. "You've been working a long time…" he said softly, opening his eyes again to look at Syrus. "You must be tired."

Syrus shrugged. He _was _tired but not exactly willing to get into a conversation about it with the kid. Cloud spoke again a moment later. "Do you know where Zack is?" he asked. Syrus nodded.

"He's okay?"

"Sure," Syrus answered simply. "Outside of being a little confused."

"Do you know what happened to Dr. Marsh?" Cloud questioned then, a little hesitant.

Syrus shook his head. In the back of his mind he was sure he knew though. Rumours had spread around that Hojo had gotten rid of her because she got too close to the specimens. Syrus shuddered to think of what Shinra would do to an employee like Marsh who had been unable to do her job.

"She was a nice person," Cloud whispered, drawing Syrus from his thoughts. "What kind of person do you think Doctor…"

"Gunan," Syrus provided the name of the new doctor.

"What kind of doctor do you think Gunan is?" Cloud asked.

"It's not my place to question," Syrus responded grimly. Almost as if his name had summoned him, Dr. Gunan entered the room then. He eyed Syrus suspiciously.

"What's going on?" he asked sternly. He adjusted his glasses on his face.

"He was sick," Syrus replied, reaching down for the trash can at his feet and lifting it for Gunan to see. The doctor grimaced, looking away and stepping up to one of the counters.

"Deal with it," he ordered and Syrus nodded though the doctor was no longer looking his way. He took the can with him as he headed for the door.

Cloud shuffled a little, trying to make himself even the slightest bit more comfortable. His ribs ached so much from lying on his stomach for so long.

"What is it?" the doctor spoke, not looking up from file he was looking through.

"My chest and stomach hurt, can't I turn over?" he asked hesitantly. The doctor looked at him and appeared to be thinking. He glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Yes. In fact, I think it's time for an assessment," the doctor agreed. "Turn over and sit up."

Cloud slowly complied, turning onto his back at a glacier's pace, trying to keep the pain at a minimum. By the time he had made it into a sitting position he was oddly out of breath. The heart monitor to his left was throwing out rapid bleeping noises. Gunan eyed it curiously.

"Strange…" he muttered under his breath as he reached for his stethoscope. Holding the scope to Cloud's chest he listened to his heartbeat. He was shocked to find that what the heart monitor was displaying was correct. Cloud's heart was acting like it was running a race. All he had done was sit up. "You can feel your feet?" the doctor questioned then. Cloud nodded. "Stand up next to the gurney," he ordered.

Cloud shifted his legs over the side of the gurney. His feet met the cold tile unsteadily. The motion sent a rush to his head and he held onto the guardrail next to him tightly. His head began to ache, dully at first, but steadily growing in intensity. He found himself out of breath, panting as he felt a growing tightness in his chest. Something was very wrong. The doctor was watching his vitals on the monitors as they spiked crazily.

"Doctor…" Cloud barely managed to breathe out. He felt himself growing cold suddenly and his lower body seemed to disappear. "I think I'm—"

He never got the chance to finish before his mind slipped into darkness and his body hit the floor.

000

"What I wouldn't give for a stack of pancakes," Zack said to himself as he stared at the ceiling above him. He had woken moments earlier from a restless sleep filled with bizarre dreams. As he stared at the ceiling tile he thought of the blueberry pancakes his mom used to make, smothered with real butter and maple syrup. With that memory, came a hoard of others, mostly to do with food. He never thought he'd long for even just your standard SOLDIER Academy Cafeteria food. He used to whine so much about the quality of that grub. _Never again_, he told himself as he found his mouth watering over the thought of just _one_ piece of greasy bacon from that cafeteria.

The activation of the keypad outside the door snapped him back to the present time. He raised himself on his elbows to see one of the goons enter. "Labbin' time?" Zack questioned.

"You know it," the goon responded. Zack sighed heavily before dragging himself to his feet.

He made a few glances at the goon as they headed down to the lab. He recognized him. His name was Tyson. He was the only original goon left. All the others had been replaced. It was hard to know if that had something to do with the damage Zack had inflicted on them during the last escape attempt. Zack thought back on that day. He smirked, remembering how he had taken down the goons. Tyson had been the lucky one. He had gotten a syringe of sedative jammed into him. Tyson turned to him suddenly, halting them in the hall.

"What?" he asked in annoyance.

Zack chuckled. "Nothing. I was just thinking how funny it is that last time I saw you you were lying passed out on the floor of the lab. I'm surprised you didn't get fired."

Tyson narrowed his eyes and pushed Zack forward. "Ya know, I can tell you work out a lot, which is a good thing, cause when you get taken down you wanna look tough doing it," Zack said in amusement, continuing to pester the goon.

"You'd know all about being tough," Tyson retorted after a moment. They had reached the lab door and he stopped them in the hall before entering. "Bet you looked real tough on your knees when you were sucking Vallow's cock." Zack stared back at him, trying to hide the shock from his face. "What? Didn't think anyone else knew?" Tyson questioned through a smug grin. "He seemed to think you were pretty good. You better watch your ass tough guy. Don't wanna piss off the wrong person. Maybe you don't know how easily anger can be a turn on, they may come looking for payback."

Zack would have loved to beat the arrogant smile off Tyson's face but he refrained, turning and heading into the lab as he suppressed his anger. He was led to a chair that had obviously been brought in as a replacement for the one he destroyed.

"Good to see you again, Z1," Hojo spoke as he approached. "How's the head?" he inquired with a facetious smirk.

"Where's Cloud?" Zack asked firmly, ignoring the professor's remark. Hojo's smirk only grew.

"Fear not, Z1, C4 will be joining us shortly. "He's been having quite the time while you've been enjoying your rest."

"I saw," Zack replied. The image of Cloud lying on a gurney, his back bruised and bloody flashed across his mind. "What have you been doing to him?"

"Oh don't you worry, Z1, you'll know for yourself, provided the procedure was successful," Hojo answered in mild amusement. He turned his back on Zack then and let one of his assistants carry out preliminary procedures Dr. Marsh would have normally done. _Oh good_, Zack thought to himself _I was wondering when I'd get more mako treatment…_ He stared at the tubes at the back of the room, dreading the upcoming hours.

"Finished, Professor," the lab assistant spoke after a few minutes.

"Good, get the specimen—" Hojo began but stopped abruptly when the door to the lab was pushed open and a gurney was wheeled in. Cloud was lying on top of it. Zack looked at his friend. He was in the same position he'd seen him before, though his back was cleaned of blood. Down the centre of his back, following the line of his spine from his shoulders to his very lower back was dark with splotches of purple, blue and black. It looked incredibly painful. "Ahhh…" Hojo mused. "And how is our other little specimen this morning?"

"I implemented a cleansing solution to flush his system of the traces of lead still present," Dr. Gunan began. "It seems to have worked. Respiratory and circulatory systems have shown clear improvement. It should be fine to reinsert new simulation disks in a few days. As far as the new mako treatment, the protein binder was successful in binding about twenty-five percent more of the mako to the body's cells. The problem is in the resulting decreased mobility."

"Oh dear. We haven't crippled our little C4, have we?" Hojo asked, faking a bit of concern. The thought of Cloud being crippled over something Hojo had done gripped Zack's heart tightly. He felt his anger ignite.

"No. It's not that the specimen _can't _move. It's that he _shouldn't_," the doctor explained. Hojo looked at him confusedly. "While the specimen is immobile, resting heart and breathing rates as well as circulation are fairly normal. As soon as the specimen becomes mobile, heart and breathing rates rise rapidly and there is an increase in inter-cranial pressure before blood pressure suddenly plummets. It's a strange aversive effect. It seems to be a defense implemented by the body itself. A rather fortunate one in that it keeps the specimen from becoming brain damaged, but it's not very helpful for the project."

"Damn," Hojo muttered as he turned to pace the room slowly.

"Aw, what'sa matter old man, another of your fucked up ideas didn't work out?" Zack piped up from where he sat. Hojo glared at him momentarily before turning back to the doctor.

"How long before the effects are worn off?" the professor questioned.

"It's hard to know," Gunan answered with a slight shrug.

"What if the blood pressure could be controlled?"

The doctor pondered for a moment. "May work. Only one way to know for sure."

Hojo smiled. Zack knew what it meant. Another experiment had come into his twisted mind. "Very well, for now let's continue with the examination," he said. "Get Z1 in the tank and begin the regular treatment," he added, looking to his assistant standing near Zack.

Zack was too preoccupied with watching the other assistants moving Cloud from the gurney to the table to resist being led to the nearest glass cylinder. A deep groan came from Cloud as he was moved and pulled from his sleep. He hadn't even known up until then that he'd been taken from the med-sector. He gasped when the skin of his chest touched the cold steel of the examination table. His body broke out in shivers then

Zack grabbed for the air mask in front of him as he felt water rising up fast at his feet. He kept his eyes on Cloud though. Even as the mako vapour began to seep out of the mask and burn its way into his lungs he kept focused on Cloud. _What are they going to do to him? _he wondered anxiously, gripping the glass in front him.

Hojo pressed two fingers down on a spot over Cloud's spine where some of the injections had been made. A dart of fiery pain shot through Cloud's back and his reflexes jumped as he let out a startled cry. Hojo raised an eyebrow and looked at the doctor.

"It's difficult to assess damage when we don't have the right equipment," Gunan spoke. "The only way to tell would be with an MRI."

Hojo smiled sadistically. "I beg to differ, doctor. Damon, get me a number four, the small forceps, and a scope." One of the assistants complied, bringing the tools over and setting them on a tray. Cloud turned his head slowly to see the tray. He watched Hojo pick up a scalpel. His breath caught in his throat before he managed to choke out words.

With his body still shivering from the cold and now from the rising fear he managed to barely squeak out a shaky inquiry. "W-wha-t are you doing?"


	27. Chapter 27

_Hey y'all! As promised here is the second update! Happy reading! _

_Disclaimer: all original FFVII elements are property of Square Enix. Jerks...lol. _

Chapter 27

"Be a good little specimen and lie still, C4," Hojo spoke, leaning in to place a hand on Cloud's back. Zack watched wide-eyed as Hojo lowered the scalpel blade to Cloud's skin and began making a deep cut. Cloud closed his eyes tightly, whimpering a little as he tried not to cry out. Hojo lay the bloodied scalpel back on the tray and reached for the forceps. He pushed them into the cut he'd just made and opened them, expanding the incision, drawing the flesh apart. Cloud let out a loud groan then that ended in a short cry. Blood was flowing out over his skin slowly. One of the assistants swabbed the incision as Hojo was reaching for the scope. He inserted it slowly, leaning in closer to look. After a moment, he straightened himself. "No visible damage. Just the expected bruising," he spoke then. A few of the assistants took out their notebooks to write it down. "We'll check the other sites to be sure," he added then as he pulled the scope out of Cloud's cut flesh and released the forceps.

Cloud was breathing hard and shakily. He jerked his body when he felt Hojo placing his hand back on him and picking up the scalpel again. "No, stop!" he found himself crying out before he could restrain himself. He knew it wasn't necessary for Hojo to continue carving up his back, the freak just _wanted _to. Cloud wasn't about to play along. He had taken Zack's punishment for him. He was done being compliant. He pulled away from the scalpel, pushing himself to his elbows. Hands were on him quickly, pushing him back onto his stomach, gripping his arms and legs, keeping his movement restrained. "No!" he shouted out once more before the blade was slicing through the layers of his bruised flesh. Tears ran from his eyes as he tried to keep himself from screaming.

Zack pounded on the glass in front of him a few times, throwing his fist into it angrily as he watched Hojo cutting up his friend's back. _That goddamn bastard! _he thought furiously, wishing to God he could gather enough strength to take down the glass in front of him. Images flashed in front of him suddenly; images of Cloud being killed by the Shinra guards and he not being able to do anything but watch as Cloud was stabbed and left to bleed to death before Sephiroth would come and make him disappear. _It was a hallucination_, Zack told himself. _I imagined it_. He wondered then if maybe what he was seeing now was just another hallucination. Or maybe it was a simulation! He couldn't tell anymore what was real. _Oh please…_he prayed.

After Hojo finished his examination, he ordered the doctor to have Cloud stitched and monitored. It took all of Cloud's willpower not to sob as he was taken away. If what he just went through wasn't torture, being stitched back up certainly was. He kept his eyes shut tightly and tried to imagine himself someplace else but he couldn't. All he could feel was the needle sliding through his flesh over and over as it was pulled taught. It was the heavy bruising in his tissue that made it so painful. It was a nagging pain. Like having someone poke you sharply a hundred times in the same spot. By the time the doctor finished, Cloud's eyes were drained of all possible tears. He felt exhausted. Every part of him ached. Gunan gave him several injections of unknown substances before finally leaving him alone. He exhaled slowly, and focused on the feeling of his heart beating against the pad on the gurney under him. It slowed after a few minutes. Soon, he found himself becoming drowsy. It came upon him so suddenly he wondered if perhaps it was from something the doctor injected him with.

_Please_, he thought as he began drifting off. _Give me just one good dream…_

_"Strife!" _

_Cloud turned in his chair to see Zack standing in the doorway. He pulled himself up quickly to salute. The first class SOLDIER headed toward him. _

_"What the bloody hell are you still doing here, the holidays have started and you're in here reading…" he reached past Cloud to grab the book off the table "Principles of the Opponent? Geeze…sounds deep." He handed the book back to Cloud. "Why haven't you left yet?" _

_Cloud shifted nervously in front of the SOLDIER. "I'm staying here for the holidays," he explained sullenly. _

_"What?! Don't you wanna go home and see your family?" Zack asked with slight concern. _

_"I…can't really afford to go home right now," Cloud partially lied. It was true, his money was tight but he didn't really want to go home anyway. He met Zack's eyes, seeing them full of sympathy. "It's cool though. I don't mind staying here," he added with a forced smile. There was a bit of an awkward silence then before Zack brightened up and spoke once again. _

_"Well hell, kid! I ain't just gonna let you sit here reading all weekend. Get on your civies, me and some of the guys are headin' out for supper and you're coming along!"_

_Cloud's eyes widened slightly and he gripped the book in his hands a little tighter. "But I—" _

_"Ahh, no buts! You got ten minutes, go!" Zack urged, pushing Cloud toward the door. _

_Cloud fumbled at his dresser to pull out his street clothes and get them on quickly. His mind was racing. _Oh my God…what the hell am I doing? I'm going to be having supper with Officer Fair and his friends. It's going to be so weird. They're gonna hate me being there…_He had never really hung out with a group of guys before. He had no idea what to expect, especially now when he was going to be with a group of guys all older than he was. _

_He sat through dinner silently, listening to the guys' conversations going around him, laughing when they did. They had been there about two hours when Zack tried to impress the guys with a coin trick. He failed miserably and got peanut shells and pretzels tossed at him. Without really thinking, Cloud reached for one of the guys' lighters sitting on the table top. _

_"Can I borrow this?" he asked softly and the guy nodded. _

_He sat it on the table in front of him horizontally and took one of the empty beer bottles from the center of the table. He turned it over and balanced the mouth of it on the lighter. _

_"Oh, the kid's gotta trick!" Zack called out over the others, shutting them up and drawing their attention. _

_Cloud cleared his throat. "Okay, I'll bet you ten gil I can get the lighter out from under the bottle without touching the bottle and without the bottle falling over," he said to Zack. _

_"HA! Deal," Zack agreed, smiling in amusement. Cloud nodded and smirked as he placed his fists on the table top and extended his index fingers. He concentrated a moment. In one swift motion he pulled his hands toward the ends of the lighter, his index fingers striking it at the same time. It shot off the table into his lap and the bottle landed on its mouth with a thud. There was a brief silence when everyone stared at the bottle before they all spoke up at once, some cheering, a few shouting that it wasn't possible. "Wait a minute! Do that again!" Zack demanded. Cloud laughed and set the lighter and bottle back up. Again he performed the trick, successfully getting the lighter out from under the bottle without it falling over. Zack sighed, reaching for his wallet as some of the other guys went about trying to do the trick themselves. He handed Cloud his winnings and smiled brightly. "You impress me, kid," he said genuinely. _

_Cloud returned a smile, feeling suddenly like he was fitting in for once. _

"Ow," Cloud exclaimed softly as he woke to the feeling of something sharp digging into the side of his neck. He began to turn his head but realized then a hand was holding his head still. "What's going on?" he questioned groggily. The pain grew sharper and he hissed in a breath. "What are you doing?"

"Stop talking," Doctor Gunan's hard voice said from above. Cloud stayed silent and waited. After a moment the doctor began to withdraw the long needle on the end of a syringe from his neck. A pulsing ache was left after the needle was removed. Cloud brought a hand to the spot on his neck, pressing against the pain instinctively.

"What was that?" he asked hesitantly.

"An experimental drug," the doctor replied casually as he jotted down some notes in a file.

"For what?"

"You'll know if it works."

Cloud didn't feel very comforted by that statement.

"Turn over and sit up," Gunan instructed then. It took a lot of effort to do so. His body was stiff and numb. He could barely feel his fingers and toes. Finally he managed to sit. The doctor pressed a stethoscope to his bare chest and told him to take a deep breath. Cloud watched the doctor's expression. He seemed pleased. "Stand up," he ordered then. Cloud was hesitant, remembering what happened last time he had attempted to stand. Reluctantly, he complied. Standing next to the gurney, he had a bit of a head rush that sent his vision spinning for a few seconds. After it passed, the only thing he noticed was that he felt weak. Not weak enough to go body-slamming into the floor though. Gunan was glancing back and forth between Cloud and the monitors. "Good," he spoke finally, heading to the counter to take down more notes. Cloud leaned back against the gurney. He watched the doctor take a cell phone from his lab coat and dial. There was a brief silence before he spoke. "The compound was successful. Yes. Very well."

The doctor closed his cell and went about preparing two injections. Cloud swallowed hard. He and Zack had had hundreds of injections since being brought to the mansion. No matter how many Cloud was given, it never got any easier. He sat himself back up on the gurney and looked down at his hands, focusing on his bandaged fingers. He wondered how long it would take before his fingernails grew back. He was afraid to see under the bandages. It was just one more part of himself he didn't like to look at anymore.

He looked up again when the doctor approached him. Without speaking, he began tying off Cloud's right arm. Cloud watched him inject a syringe of clear liquid first followed up by a syringe of bright blue liquid. It reminded him of windshield wiper fluid. While it seemed unlikely, he seriously hoped it wasn't. Releasing the band on his arm, the doctor reached for some clothing on the chair nearby and pushed it at Cloud. "Get dressed," he ordered before going to the door. He peered out into the hall. "You!" he called and stepped back. A moment later one of the goons appeared. "When the specimen's dressed, cuff him and take him to the combat testing area.

_Not that_, Cloud thought as he stepped into the one leg of the pants he was given. He had the feeling that it wasn't going to go very well. Marching down the hall, his wrists cuffed and the goon at his back he felt himself growing more anxious the closer they got to the testing area. He was aware, however, of his fleeting pain and growing strength. Whatever drugs he'd been given they were quick. He couldn't help but wonder just what long-term effects all the mako and narcotics were going to have on his mind and body in the future. _Heh…future. What's that?_ he questioned himself sarcastically.

Once his cuffs were removed, he entered the combat area solemnly, keeping his gaze low. He didn't look up until a familiar voice echoed in his ears.

"Welcome back, baby boy!"

Cloud groaned in distain as he looked up at the red-headed Turk.

"Wow, you don't look happy to see me at all!" Reno said with a wide smirk.

"You know anyone who would be?" Cloud asked in a low tone.

"Oooh, ouch!" Reno faked a hurt expression. "You better be nice, kiddo. I may re-think going easy on you when the fight starts."

Cloud rolled his eyes, looking down at the weapons lying nearby. They were fighting with bo staffs. The last time Cloud had fought Reno with a bo staff it was hollow bamboo. This time it was something different. Something heavier. It felt solid. Heavier staffs made for better handling and harder hits. But it meant one hell of a hurt if you didn't watch yourself. Cloud flexed his fingers and shook his arms trying to get as much feeling back into them as possible. He was pain-free for the time being. With the drugs coursing through him, he felt stronger than he had in a long time, minus the slight numbness in his limbs. He ran a hand through his hair, drawing a few of his disheveled spikes from his face. It was getting to the point where he was going to need an elastic to hold them back from his eyes.

"Hope you can keep up, baby boy. It's been awhile for you," Reno spoke as he removed his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves. "I wouldn't wanna hurt you too bad," he added smugly.

Cloud ignored him, taking a few steps as he twirled the staff in his hands. He let his eyes wander up to the observation window, hoping to see Zack. Unfortunately, the only faces he saw were Hojo's and his assistants. He lowered his head as he thought of his friend. He never thought he'd miss Zack's voice so much. It seemed like forever since he'd been able to talk to him. He wondered then what it was like for him not having anyone to talk to. He couldn't imagine Zack not talking. It made him comfortable with the assumption that he talked to himself when no one was around.

"Let's get this party started!" Reno exclaimed loudly, picking up his staff and heading toward Cloud. He didn't give Cloud any other warning than that before making a diagonal slash toward him. Cloud dodged to the side, and narrowly missed being struck. He raised his staff to block another slash.

"That would have been a cheap shot," he spoke as he pushed Reno back and delivered a downward vertical strike. The Turk chuckled as he blocked. Stepping back he started a quick series of strikes. Cloud blocked as best he could, backing up, trying hard to keep from losing his staff. He winced when he realized he'd left himself open to a jab. The end of Reno's staff hit him hard in the gut and he stumbled back before doubling forward onto his knees. He rolled to the side to miss a swift sweeping strike.

"I was in the city the other day," Reno spoke then as brought down another hit that Cloud blocked. "Met a girl there. Turned out to be one of your little friends."

Cloud narrowed his eyes while keeping focused on pushing back against Reno as he bore down on Cloud, their staffs connected. "Who are you talking about?" he questioned. He didn't have any friends, certainly none that were girls.

"She was pretty cute, dark hair and eyes, nice rack, I think she said her name was Tifa," Reno explained.

Cloud's eyes widened then and he let his arms go weak without thinking, falling back as Reno's weight came down over him, his staff pressed against Cloud's chest. "She's alive?" Cloud questioned, more to himself than Reno.

"Well she certainly seemed alive to me," Reno laughed. "A little young, but that's alright really. I like 'em that way," he added as he stroked a few strands of Cloud's hair off his forehead with his one hand. Cloud's anger fired up and he gripped Reno's staff, gathering his strength he managed to send him flying back with a good kick and shove. Cloud got to his feet quickly, holding his staff firmly. Reno straightened himself and smiled widely. He seemed to enjoy seeing Cloud angry. "She wasn't the most friendly chick in the world, your Tifa," he went on, pacing a little and twirling his staff. "But hey, can't say I really mind a fiery girl."

"Stop talking about her," Cloud demanded, watching Reno as the Turk circled him slowly.

Zack was brought into the observation room then. Hojo glanced at him. "Hello, Z1. Thought you may like to be witness to this," the professor remarked as he stared back out the window. Zack stepped up to the window and stared down at the scene below.

"I think Rude kinda has a thing for her as well," Reno continued, ignoring Cloud's warning. "But he's a little more into her than I am I think. For me it's more of a wam, bam, thank you ma'am sorta deal. Ya know, that's something that could do her and her feisty mouth some good. A nice little gang bang activity." He never had the chance to laugh at his own musings. Cloud rushed him before he could. He only managed to block the first two strikes before Cloud engaged a sliding downward thrust leading to a groin strike. Reno cursed loudly before a horizontal strike to his ribs took him down. There was an audible snapping sound as several of his ribs cracked.

"I _said_ stop talking about her!" Cloud repeated angrily, stepping up to where Reno lay grasping his ribs.

Reno looked up at him, fury ablaze in his eyes. "You'll pay for that, baby boy," he sneered before delivering a kick to Cloud's left knee and reaching forward quickly to grab his ankle. He pulled hard and fast while twisting and Cloud fell to the floor on his chest, dropping the bo staff. It rolled from his reach. He pulled himself to his hands and knees as he prepared to go after it but Reno had hold of his ankle still and he pulled him back fast. He reached up Cloud's right thigh and delivered a hard dig into his pressure point, drawing a short but loud cry from Cloud's lips. He turned Cloud over then before throwing a punch into the left side of his face. Cloud blocked a second punch and drew his knee up into Reno's chest before kicking him back. Cloud turned over once again, pulling himself on to his hands and knees once more as he began to rise.

Reno scrambled up, grabbing his staff and raising it up high above him. Zack gasped, knowing what was about to happen. There wasn't even a second for him to dread the result before Reno brought the staff down with a loud roar. It came down hard. There was an incredible CRACK as it connected with Cloud's back. Zack hissed in a breath, turning his head away. He waited for the sound of Cloud's pain-filled scream but it never came. _Did he get knocked out?_ he wondered then as he turned back to look out the window. He was shocked to see Cloud rising from his one knee. Splintered wood lay around him, some of it stuck to the back of his shirt. His face showed pain, but not as badly as it should have been. Reno looked stunned, frozen in place, the broken end of the staff in his hands. He had reason for his reaction. Hits like that had killed people, or at least broken bones. Yet, there Cloud stood, rolling his shoulders, driving away the tension and ache he did feel.

"Jesus…" Reno spoke in awe as he lifted the broken end of the staff to examine it. "Whatever you're on, baby boy, I gotta get me some," he remarked, glancing at Cloud. Breathing heavily, Cloud looked up to the observation window wondering what was supposed to be happening next. Everything seemed at a stand-still.

Zack looked back at Hojo to see the old man was so excited he could barely speak. He managed to string together a sentence quickly enough, however. "Remarkable! The effects of the new treatment are clear! We must find a way to get the same effects in a more efficient way!" The assistants were busy scribbling. Zack looked back out the window and met Cloud's gaze. He smiled down at Cloud, touching the glass with his finger tips. Cloud's smile was in his eyes that brightened as they looked up at his friend. Zack raised his bound hands to give a short two-fingered wave and Cloud nodded back, his face finally breaking into a half smile.

Zack turned around then as he heard hurried rustling. Hojo and his assistants were leaving the room. The assistants were busy trying to keep up with the professor as he rambled on and on about new ideas for treatment. When Zack turned back to the window, Cloud was gone. He and Syrus exchanged confused glances. Hojo hadn't given the goon any specific orders with regards to Zack. It was an occasion that didn't come 'round very often. Sighing, Syrus placed a hand on Zack's shoulder and told him to move along with the intention of bringing him back to his cell. As they were passing the door leading to the changing area and combat room Zack stopped. He looked at Syrus.

"No," Syrus spoke before Zack had even opened his mouth.

"Come on, man! Let me go see my friend. Who's gonna know?" Zack tried to persuade him.

"Me. And the Turk. And Breers," Syrus answered firmly, pushing Zack along. The door burst open then and Reno came flying out. He paused for a moment in front of Zack and Syrus.

"This place is fucked up!" he exclaimed as he slung his jacket over his shoulder. "I need a fuckin' beer," he added before stalking off down the hall. Zack looked at Syrus and smiled.

"Come on, buddy, I know deep down you're a real nice guy…" Zack prodded. Syrus released a long exhale before pushing Zack back toward the door.

"Fine, hurry the hell up," he said at last.

"Thanks, man! I owe you big time!" Zack beamed as he headed down into the changing area. The goon named Breers was snapping on cuffs around Cloud's wrists as he bounded in.

"Zack!" Cloud spoke his name in surprise, expecting anything but to see him at that moment.

"Spikey!" Zack responded loudly as he made his way quickly to his friend. They both motioned to open their arms for a hug and realized quickly neither was capable of doing so due to their cuffs. Zack laughed lightly before bringing his arms up over Cloud's head and around his arms, trapping him in a tight bear hug. Cloud smiled and exhaled deeply into Zack's chest, his face pressed so close he could hear his heartbeat. "I missed the hell outta you, kid!" Zack said happily.

"You too," Cloud replied, his words muffled by Zack's shirt. "Uh, Zack?"

"Hmm?"

"I need to breathe sometime."

Zack laughed. "Well that's too bad, 'cause I'm stuck."

Cloud groaned and Zack gave in, pulling his arms back up and over Cloud's head, purposely messing his hair as he did so. He glanced at Syrus then. He was talking to Breers.

"That guy's alright," he remarked quietly.

"Syrus?" Cloud questioned.

"If that's his name," Zack answered with a nod.

"He's the reason you didn't bleed to death down in the D-Wing."

Zack looked down at Cloud, seeing a sadness in his eyes he knew he had caused. "Is he also the reason you took the rest of my punishment for me?" Zack questioned somewhat sarcastically. Cloud huffed, turning and sitting on a bench nearby. Zack sat down next to him. "What were you thinking, Cloud?" he began to scold. Cloud threw him a fierce look.

"What was _I _thinking? What about _you_? You're the one who split his head open and nearly died because of Hojo's fucking torture. What was I supposed to do, Zack? It was my fault you were stuck in that cell listening to that goddamn recording for so long anyway."

"What are you talking about? How could it possibly be your fault?"

"Hojo gave me a task and if I didn't complete it—" he began to explain but stopped suddenly, shaking his head. "Nevermind, it doesn't matter. It's all finished now anyway, Hojo got what he wanted and we're both still alive…and so is Tifa."

"What?" Zack asked in confusion, sure he had misheard.

"Reno told me. He talked to her."

"Spike, that's great! What did she say?"

"He didn't tell me. Sounds like she told him off," he said with a smirk. Zack laughed.

"Well I like anyone who tells Reno off. I told you she'd be okay!" He shoved Cloud playfully. Cloud's smile faded after a moment and he stared at the floor. Zack felt a tension surrounding them and he had a pretty good idea why. "Cloud, I'm sorry for what I made you go through," he said slowly, watching for Cloud's reaction. "I just…couldn't think. I was so tired. I just wanted to sleep. I never meant to—"

"I know," Cloud spoke softly, cutting him off. "I'm glad you're okay," he added before looking up at him again.

"We need to go," Syrus' spoke from nearby. Zack nodded and rose to his feet reluctantly. Cloud followed. They were marched down to the cell block. Two cells separated each of theirs so even if they could find a way to communicate it would be unlikely they'd hear each other. They exchanged glances one more time before entering their respective rooms, the doors closing behind each of them with loud clicks


	28. Chapter 28

_Hi guys. I'm super-tired so this A/N will be brief. Thank you to all of you who read and reviewed last chapter. You know how much I appreciate it, guys. You're ma peeps and I love ya haha! This chapter was actually much longer and I chopped it in half because I didn't want it to seem too tedious to read. I would have to say this and Chapter 29 are my favourite chapters I've written to date so I hope you like them. Chapter 29 is not quite done though so I can't promise it will be up tomorrow though I'm going to try to have it out by then. I tend to write my chapters in sections so while I have the beginning and end complete the middle is still missing. Anyway, hope you enjoy. _

_Disclaimer: FF property of Square Enix. _

Chapter XXVIII

_"You already know," Cloud's soft voice spoke from where he sat on the bleachers next to the track. Though he could only see the side of the cadet's face, he could tell he had been crying at some point. Cloud must have made his accurate assumption from the way he approached him less excitedly than usual. He sat himself next to him, raising one foot up on the bench below him and staring out over the frosted field, watching his breath coming out in foggy puffs. _

_"I'm sorry, kid," he spoke hesitantly. He knew nothing he said was going to make him feel better. Cloud stayed silent at first. He kept his gaze down, locked on his boots. _

_"What am I supposed to do now?" he barely squeaked out, sounding like he may break into sobs right then. Zack looked at him. _

_"You can always try out again. Just go home and rest for now, come back in the fall—" he began to explain, brightening his tone a little, trying to get the kid's spirits up a little. _

_"I can't go home," Cloud cut him off, a harshness in his tone that found Zack raising a questioning eyebrow. _

_"We'll figure something out, alright?" he said with a weak smile as he placed a hand on the cadet's soldier. "I'll look out for you, I promise," he assured Cloud as he met Zack's eyes. _

The dreamy haze in Zack's head parted then as he felt himself coming out of sleep. His own words still echoed in his mind. He remembered with sadness the day Cloud hadn't made it passed the first round of final exams in the Academy that would allow him entrance to the second semester of Recruit Training.

_I'll look out for you, I promise. _How seriously that promise had come to lead his life. He turned over onto his back from his right side, closing his eyes against the fluorescent lighting overhead. He felt his stomach tighten a little and a hint of nausea rise up, bringing back thoughts of the last night's mako treatment. He had expected when he was brought to the lab that Hojo would have him laid out on the table, performing whatever madness he had on Cloud in the days before but it was just the usual treatment. Cloud's cylinder had stayed empty, however, and no amount of questioning or threats from him could get answers out of the professor or his staff. He cursed himself a hundred times over for attempting their last escape. If he had suppressed his rash actions and left the attempt for a time when they were prepared to get away he and Cloud would probably still be sharing a cell and he wouldn't have to worry so much about the condition of his friend.

000

_Kill me_, Cloud thought to himself as he lay curled in a ball on the floor of the bathroom in his cell, gripping his torso and shaking. It had been a long and agonizing night as the affects of the drugs he had been given the day before had worn off slowly and he was left with the pain from the injuries sustained to his back from all Hojo's proddings and the sickness brought on by mako. He heard the door to the cell open and forced his head up off the tile to see who had entered. A moment later, Syrus appeared in the doorway. The goon's eyes shifted from him to the toilet bowl and a look of slight disgust crossed his face. The expression was understandable. In the bowl were the remnants of what Cloud had had thrown up hours earlier but hadn't bothered to flush down as he fell back on the floor weakly to catch his breath.

He lowered his head once again as Syrus entered, waiting to hear what the goon had to say. He expected a simple "Let's go" or "Your food's here" or something of the like but got something entirely unexpected.

"You…okay?" Syrus's words came out hesitant and awkward.

Cloud stared up at him in mild shock. He let out a shaky breath before speaking. "Have you seen, Zack?" he questioned, dodging Syrus's inquiry.

"Not yet. Headed there next," he replied as he shook his head.

"If he asks, can you just tell him I'm fine?" Cloud asked meekly, not sure of the response he'd get.

"I…guess so," Syrus agreed after a few seconds of odd silence.

Cloud took another shaky breath and let it out slow. "Thank you."

Syrus nodded. "You have to take these," he said then, holding up familiar paper cups. Cloud forced himself to sit up and take the cups from the goon. He swallowed down the mix of vitamins and handed the cups back. "There's food out here for you," Syrus added then. Cloud nodded though he made no indication that he would leave the washroom.

"Can I ask you something?" Cloud questioned Syrus as he was turning to leave. The tall man paused and looked back at him. "You seem pretty decent. Why are you working for Hojo?"

Syrus lowered his eyes. For a moment, his stance and expression seemed to indicate he was going to answer Cloud but as would be expected he straightened himself and cleared his throat before muttering "I'd rather not say." He left Cloud promptly then and headed for Zack's room. He shook his feelings away before entering. _Man that kid has a way of making you feel guilty_, he thought as he punched in the entry code.

Zack gazed up at him from the floor. He sat himself up and pushed some hair from his face. "Syrus, right?" he questioned and the goon nodded. "Thanks again for letting me see Cloud yesterday."

"Sure," Syrus said with a semi-grunt as he handed Zack his vitamins.

"How's he doing?" Zack asked then. Syrus snorted before answering.

"Says he's fine."

Zack eyed him skeptically. "He says?"

"Mmhmm, s'what he said," Syrus insisted.

"But it's not true?"

"Is knowing the truth gonna be any better for you?" Syrus retorted then. Zack opened his mouth to argue but no words came out. The goon had a point. "You should probably be more concerned about _yourself_. It's gonna be a busy day for you."

"What do you mean?" Zack inquired quickly.

Syrus shrugged. "Well I'm supposed to be back here in a couple hours to take you for fitness testing and then later to the lab for that new procedure your friend down there got first try on."

"Way to make my day, man," Zack responded with a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Yeah well…enjoy," Syrus replied and handed Zack a bowl of food. "See ya in a few."

"Fantastic," Zack spoke aloud after Syrus had left. He stared down at his meal and felt his stomach ache in dread over the thought of going through the new mako infusion procedure. The last thing he was feeling now was hungry.

Just as Syrus had said, a few hours later the goon returned and collected him, bringing him down to the Treadroom where he immediately noticed Cloud wasn't present. Disappointment struck him. He didn't know why he had let himself hope he'd be there. Hojo's new form of torture was to keep them away from each other as much as possible. Still, he couldn't help but inquire as to Cloud's whereabouts. He whispered his inquiry to Syrus when the goon was handing him a bottle of water.

"He's in the med-sector," Syrus whispered back.

"What? Why? What happened?" Zack nearly spoke too loudly, drawing a look from one of the lab assistants.

"He's fine. It's just some procedure. I dunno. I wasn't told," Syrus explained before heading back to his place at the door. Zack felt less than comforted.

000

Cloud knew what procedure was awaiting him when he was brought to the med-sector and the assistants began prepping him, taking razors to the sides and back of his head to remove small patches of hair that had been growing back since his last surgical procedure just days earlier. It was those discs. New ones were being put back in his head. As he lay on the cold operating table in the med sector and waited for the anesthesia to carry him away he thought of all the terrible simulations that would be made possible through those little pieces of metal. All the mental anguish they would cause him…

Hours later, he awoke from the procedure slowly. His head ached before he had even moved, especially at the back. It was different than the first time those simulation discs had been inserted. Keeping his eyes closed he sat up, letting his head hang a little as he rubbed the back of his neck. With so many places in his body having been cut into in the past few days he was starting to feel like one of those frogs or pigs that get dissected in school. He yawned deeply before opening his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that the lights were off in the room. _Huh? I didn't think these lights were capable of turning off_ he thought to himself, worrying for a moment that perhaps he had been brought back to that cell in the D-Wing. No, the floor was too smooth, he told himself. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark so he could make his way to the washroom and get a look at his head.

The minutes passed and his eyes would not adjust. _This is ridiculous_, he thought. _With as much mako in my blood as I have I should be seeing at least _something.

A horrifying thought came upon him then. He pushed it away at first, denying the possibility but as he sat there in complete blackness and the minutes went on and on and still he saw nothing, he began to let the suspicion creep in. _Oh god. What if something happened during the procedure? What if…no! It can't be! _He pulled himself to his feet, reaching around for anything he could find to touch. His hand met with the cinderblock of one of the walls then and he moved his face close to it, squinting hard to make out any detail he possibly could. Nothing. Just darkness. He began to panic then, roaming the room, running into the walls, running his hands against them. "This can't be happening," he spoke aloud. "No! Please!" he pleaded as he felt fear taking him over.

000

Syrus headed toward Cloud's cell with orders to check on him and make sure he had awoken from his earlier surgical procedure without complications. He entered the cell to see Cloud huddled in the far right corner, staring toward him with wide, frightened eyes. Tears were fresh on his cheeks. Something didn't seem right. _Why does he look so terrified? _Syrus wondered as he stepped closer.

"What's wrong?" he questioned.

"Who is it?" Cloud asked, his voice quivering nervously. "Syrus?"

Syrus squinted in confusion. _What the hell? _he thought as he watched Cloud's eyes shift and focus someplace to the right of where he was standing. "Why are you…" he began to question but trailed off when the suspicion hit him. Cloud spoke before he could ask.

"The lights aren't out…are they?" he questioned though something in his tone suggested he knew the answer already

"No…" Syrus was hesitant to respond.

"I-I can't see anyth-thing," Cloud spoke in a panicked whisper as more tears fell from his eyes.

"Goddamn," Syrus muttered as he shook his head and watched the frightened boy shaking in the corner. _This is too fucked up to be happening_, he thought to himself before turning and leaving the room.

"Syrus?" Cloud questioned when he heard the door shut. He was met with silence that lasted only a second before he broke into sobs once again.

Syrus headed down to Hojo's office, knocking on the door hesitantly. "What?!" Hojo's bitter voice called out. He opened the door slowly and stuck his head in.

"Professor, there is a problem with one of the specimens," he spoke directly. Hojo let out an irritated sigh.

"What is it now?" he questioned without looking up from his desk.

"It's the kid."

"C4?" Hojo asked, a note of annoyance that hinted he was not impressed with his enforcer using the term _kid_.

"Yeah. He can't see," Syrus said uneasily. Hojo looked up then, halting his pen in mid-sentence.

"What?"

"It would seem he's blind, sir," he clarified, hoping his own mild anger wasn't making itself known in his words.

Hojo's pen hit the desktop before rolling to the floor.

000

Cloud jumped when he heard the door to his cell opening. He hadn't moved from the corner. It was giving him the only shred of security he could get. He directed his eyes to the door though it made no difference. All he saw was darkness. He heard footsteps and could sense someone coming toward him.

"Who's there?" he questioned anxiously. There was no reply before a hand gripped his chin. He began to pull back and the grip on his face tightened.

"Keep still!" a harsh voice spoke. He recognized it vaguely as the doctor's voice. The doctor shone a light in his eyes that he did not see. He felt the doctor's fingers touching his eye lids, prying them open wider. "Bring him down to the sector, I'll have a better look at him there," Gunan said then and stepped back. A moment later, Cloud felt a hand reaching for his right upper arm. He brought himself to a stand and let himself be led down to the med sector.

Back in his cell, Zack had grown very uneasy over the passing hours. Something wasn't right. He should have been brought to the lab hours ago. Not that he was upset about not undergoing the new mako procedure, but instinct told him something was very wrong, and naturally his worries led his thoughts to Cloud. When the door opened finally and Syrus stepped in he jumped at the chance to question him.

"What's happened?" he asked fast. Syrus's expression of surprise changed to one of something else. _Sympathy? _Zack wondered.

"Here," Syrus spoke, coming toward him with a covered dish of food. Zack rose from the floor, facing Syrus.

"Tell me," he demanded.

"You're not getting any treatment tonight," Syrus responded curtly.

"Why not? It's Cloud right? Something happened to him." Syrus sighed in exasperation. "Syrus, fuck, just tell me!" Zack nearly shouted in frustration.

"I dunno," he answered at last. "I went in and he—I dunno, he couldn't see me," he explained uneasily.

"What?" Zack questioned in confusion, not really understanding. "Couldn't see you?" his eyes widened. "He's blind?!" he exclaimed then in disbelief. Syrus shrugged and then nodded. "Well—what, what the fuck? What the hell happened?" he asked in a mix of anger and fear.

"Why the hell are you asking me? You think I know what goes on in this freak show? I just do my job and get paid. I don't ask fucking questions, buddy!" Syrus said then, getting his back up at Zack. He turned for the door.

"Wait! Syrus!" Zack jumped in front of him, barring him from the door. "I'm sorry, I get that you aren't supposed to care, but he's my best friend. He's all I have. If anything happens to him, I—"

His voice cracked as he felt his emotions choking him. Syrus released a forced exhale, his expression softening a bit. "I'm sorry," he spoke then before shoving the bowl of food at Zack and pushing past him to leave. As the door shut with a click, Zack felt a wave of fury come over him and he sent the bowl careening across the cell where it hit the wall with a loud crack, sticky, oatmealish matter splattering the cinderblock. Zack released a frustrated scream before heading to the one wall, running his hands through his hair as he tried to calm himself. He put his hands on the wall and pressed his forehead against it, feeling the cold invade his skull.

In the med sector, Cloud was put through a battery of tests before being brought back to his cell. Despite his pleading questions, he was given no explanations, nothing to suggest his sight would or would not return. Left alone in the dark once again, he found his way once again to a corner, pulling his knees close to his chest, trying to keep himself from freaking out. _It's just temporary. It'll come back_ he tried to convince himself though his mind wouldn't believe itself. Deep inside him he was scared out of his wits that he'd just lost something he was never going to get back again.

000

"Love what you've done with the place," Syrus remarked gruffly as he gazed at the dried food on the walls and floor. Zack didn't respond. He focused on his hand as he used his thumb to crack all the knuckles in his fingers. "You're not gonna ask me how your friend's doing?" the goon questioned then. Zack scoffed.

"Would it matter if I did?" he replied harshly. He looked up at Syrus, seeing him standing with his arms crossed over his chest. "Is he really blind?" he asked then, softening his tone.

"It's looking like it," Syrus responded lowly.

Zack let out a dry laugh. There was nothing funny about the situation. He was laughing at the sheer patheticness of it. He spoke under his breath then, "What the fuck did that psycho do to cause this?"

"I'm not completely sure, but it may have something to do with that surgical procedure," Syrus answered, though Zack hadn't expected him to. "It was something to do with his head."

Zack shook his head. He wiped some tears from his cheeks as they sprung loose from his eyes. "God…he's gotta be so scared," he said aloud, though it was more to himself. "I'd give anything to see him."

There was a lingering silence then before Syrus spoke once again. "Maybe you won't have to," he said as he dropped his arms and went for the door once again.

"Syrus?" Zack questioned, not understanding. The guard smirked back at him before leaving the cell.

It seemed like forever before Syrus returned. Zack was shocked he even did. What shocked him even more was when the goon gestured for him to follow him. He rose slowly and walked with him into the hall, glancing around in confusion. "What are you doing?" he questioned and Syrus shushed him harshly, grabbing his arm and pulling him down the hall swiftly. He stopped outside the door to Cloud's cell, punching in the entry code quickly. Zack was watching him in sheer disbelief.

When the cell door opened, Zack's eyes searched out his friend. The cell seemed empty. It wasn't until Syrus shut the door that Cloud was revealed. He was huddled in the left corner of the front of the room and had been shielded from view when the door was open.

"Syrus?" Cloud spoke shakily, his eyes searching back and forth.

"I brought someone for you," Syrus responded, looking at Zack who stepped toward his friend slowly.

"Spike, it's me," he said softly, crouching down in front of Cloud, watching his watery blue eyes looking for him. They stopped in his direction. As he did so, Zack swore Cloud could really see him.

"Zack?" he said his name weakly, almost in disbelief as he reached a hand out tentatively toward him.

"Yeah, Spikey," he replied with a smile, hoping Cloud could hear it in his voice. He watched Cloud's hand as it came toward him, shutting his eyes when his fingers touched his nose and began to tremble their way down his face, sweeping over his one cheek and the side of his mouth. The hand lingered there then and Zack opened his eyes to see Cloud's expression changing to one of deep relief before he saw the telltale signs of his rising emotions. He placed his hand over Cloud's and lowered it.

"Zack," Cloud's voice broke then as tears started running from his eyes, trailing down his pale cheeks. "I can't see you!" he cried, squeezing his eyes shut then as he began to sob. Zack placed a hand on the back of Cloud's head then and pulled him forward into his shoulder. Cloud gripped him tightly, crying freely, his tears dampening Zack's shirt. Zack himself shed his own tears silently, feeling them trail down his cheeks and get absorbed by Cloud's hair against his face. There was nothing Zack could think of to say. What _could _he say? The best he had to offer at that moment was his presence. His heart was breaking as he listened to Cloud's unhindered sobs. There was something so unbelievably child-like about them. A child crying out in pain. The worst sound in the world. And in those sobs he could feel the desperation, the pleading for someone to make the pain go away, to make everything okay. He'd have sold his soul to be able to do that.

.


	29. Chapter 29

_Hey guys. I have a bit of a warning to issue for this chapter. There is material of non-consensual sexual nature that not all of you may appreciate. If you've read my other warning-issued chapters you know the drill. If you wish to have a synopsis of the chapter instead of reading it, just message me and I'll get on it. Cheers :) _

Disclaimer: FF no mine.

Chapter XXIX

As hard as it was to break up the reunion between Zack and Cloud, Syrus insisted on bringing Zack back to his cell after a mere ten minutes. There was no protest from either Zack or Cloud. They both respected Syrus for what he had done for them and knew he was putting himself in jeopardy for it. When Zack entered his cell he lost his composure, his knees giving out. He hit the tile hard, feeling pain shooting up and down his legs and arms from the force. "FUCK!" he screamed at the floor, squeezing his eyes shut and curling his fingers into his palms hard.

"C'mon bud, keep it together eh?" Syrus spoke awkwardly.

"Keep it together?" Zack repeated his words in exasperation, looking back at him. "Keep it together? We're in goddamn, motherfucking _Hell_, and you're telling me to keep it together?! ARE YOU FUCKING MENTAL?! CLOUD IS BLIND!"

Syrus lowered his eyes, wishing he hadn't spoken. Zack pressed his forehead to the floor, breathing hard.

"This is bad, Syrus. Really. Fucking. Bad," Zack spoke softer then. "I promised him," he added lowly. Syrus wasn't sure he was actually talking to him anymore as he continued. "I promised him and look what's happened…" He sat back on his heels, his back was to Syrus. "I've failed him."

Syrus caught on then. "You're blaming yourself for _this_?" Zack said nothing. "Buddy…I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed but I know this has nothing to do with you. None of it's your fault."

Zack released a short dry laugh. "Why the hell are you here, Syrus?" he asked.

"Well, I had to let you back in the room—" the goon began. Zack looked back him, not knowing if he was serious.

"Not in the room! I mean why are you working here?" Zack clarified. Syrus said nothing. "I mean…how can you possibly work here and not be going crazy?"

"Who says I'm not?" Syrus retorted after a moment.

000

Sometime, hours later, Zack was brought to the lab by one of the other goons. Had he not been sedated _before_ Hojo had entered he probably would have taken the opportunity to try and bust up his face. As he lay on the steel operating table feeling the icy plunge of a long, sharp needle digging through the flesh of his back all he could think of was Cloud. Not even the intense pain could distract his thoughts from his friend. _Can't give up_, he lectured himself. _He's lost his sight, not his life. _He heard Hojo's voice, thought it was difficult to make out his words. He felt like he was listening through a jar. The only thing he could be sure of was that he was being left alone for the time being, lying motionless on his stomach. From his vantage point he could just make out the door to the lab opening and Cloud being led in.

"C4," Hojo spoke in that irritating, smug tone of his. "It's good to _see _you," he added with a chuckle. If Zack thought it would be worth the effort he would have rolled his eyes. "Oh, forgive me, C4, that really was in bad taste. Perhaps, Z1 would like to watch while we have a look at you, hmmm?" He wheeled a strange looking chair over to where Zack could see it.

"You did this to me, Hojo," Cloud spoke firmly as he was pulled over to the chair. "Shinra's gotta be out of his fucking mind to have you as his head scientist. You have the intelligence of an eight-year-old with a magnifying glass!"

Zack had to hand it to him, Cloud was a tough one when he wanted to be.

"Thank you for that assessment, C4," Hojo remarked before pushing Cloud into the chair. "Unfortunately, in science, sometimes there are mistakes. That's what happens with trial and error." One of the assistants proceeded to secure the restraints on the chair around Cloud's wrists. There was a weird set of clamps and restraints attached to the back of the chair. Cloud could feel something clamp down on the sides of his head. They kept him from being able to move his head. He shut his eyes tightly when he felt fingers touch his one cheek and try to hold his lids open on his left eye. He groaned from his failed efforts when his eyes were forced open and held that way by whatever cold metal contraption was holding his head.

Zack watched anxiously, his only movement being a mild shiver. Whatever type of sedative he'd been given it was terrible. While his mind was clear and alert, his body was paralyzed. The only part of him he could move was his eyes, and even that wasn't easy. The only sounds he could make were subtle gurgles or moans. He watched Hojo reaching for something on the tray next to him. One of the lab assistants was keeping Cloud's eyes lubricated with eye drops.

"This may be a bit uncomfortable," Hojo said then as he held what looked almost like a bit of wire attached to a small screwdriver handle up to his right eye. Cloud's eyes, forced wide by the clamps, shifted and Hojo paused. "Now, I wouldn't be doing that. That would make this _quite _painful," he advised. Cloud kept his eyes still then but he began to shake, not knowing what to expect.

He was shocked when he felt something touch his eyeball. Not just touch it though. There was a strange pressure. It felt deep. Zack cringed inside as he watched Hojo push the needle-thin wire into the centre of Cloud's pupil in his right eye. He watched the metal disappear one millimeter at a time. The professor halted after a few seconds, pressing on the end of the handle. Cloud released a startled cry as he felt a harsh pinch somewhere he didn't think he even had feeling. Somewhere at the back of his eye. His eyelid twitched as he tried to shut it instinctively. Hojo removed the wire then, pulling it back slowly. He removed the wire from the handle and deposited it into a plastic container. Another wire he attached to the handle then and positioned it at Cloud's left eye. The procedure done on his right eye was repeated on his left. Though Cloud didn't cry out this time when he felt the pinch his body jerked reflexively.

"Get these tissue samples to the med-sector," he directed one of his assistants when he had deposited the second wire in another small plastic container. The assistant complied. Meanwhile, Hojo spared no time in preparing two syringes with God knows what. "Eyes forward, C4," he ordered Cloud before lifting the one syringe to his right eye and targeted the side of his eyeball with the tip of the needle. Zack couldn't make himself watch the whole thing. As the needle was pressed to the surface of Cloud's eye, it seemed to dip in under the pressure a little before the needle broke through. Cloud felt a sudden shock of pain and vocalized it, pulling in his restraints. His eye teared up fast and mixed with the solution from the eye drops before finding an outlet at the corner of his lid.

"Wha-what the hell are you doing?!" he questioned frantically. Hojo didn't respond as he withdrew the needle and set the emptied syringe down. He reached for the second one, ready to proceed on Cloud's left eye.

Once Zack was sure Hojo had finished, he opened his eyes and looked at his friend. He could see broken blood vessels in the whites of his eyes, bleeding out slowly. Some of the blood found its way to the small tear in the tissue, mixing with his tears and running out over his cheeks. It was an eerie scene. Something from a horror movie.

"There. All done," Hojo commented as he began removing the clamps and restraints on Cloud's head. "Now was that so bad?"

Cloud didn't answer. As soon as his hands were free he covered his tightly shut eyes with them. Zack could see his body shaking as though he were holding back from crying. His eyes felt like they were burning. The backs were throbbing. Someone took his arm and pulled him up. He was dragged off from the lab, presumably back to his cell. With Cloud gone, Hojo turned his attention back to Zack. He smiled tightly.

"Now, where were we?" he pondered. "Ah, yes. That protein binder will have set in by now so we can continue with the next round of injections!" he said happily, gazing down at Zack who wished the old man could see the hateful expression he was displaying towards him internally.

000

Syrus' shift later that night began with orders to bring food to Cloud. Zack wasn't to be fed on account of him being in the med-sector under observation. He stopped outside Cloud's door and waited a moment before entering. He took a deep breath, preparing himself, reminding himself to keep cool and not let himself feel too much. It was always easier said than done. He always entered with the surety that he was not going to be affected by what he saw but every time he set eyes on either Cloud or Zack, that belief was blown to bits. Tonight was no exception. He entered to find Cloud in one of the corners where he suspected he'd be. His head was down, his forehead on his drawn-up knees and his arms wrapped around his shins. He did nothing to acknowledge Syrus's presence.

Syrus walked toward him slowly, the bowl of food in his hands. He spoke hesitantly. "You awake, kid?" he questioned. Cloud raised his head then. The goon was startled, nearly dropping the bowl in his hands. "Geeze!" he exclaimed as he looked at Cloud's face. His eyes were blood-spotted and there were thin lines of dry diluted blood on his cheeks from earlier.

"What is it?" Cloud asked in mild panic, having no idea what had startled the goon.

"Nothin'…you just look a bit like a zombie or something…" Syrus muttered then realized he probably shouldn't have said that. Cloud lowered his eyes and turned his head.

"I wouldn't know," he commented dully.

Syrus looked back at him grimly. He set the bowl in his hands down and moved to the bathroom where he dampened the hand towel and made his way back to Cloud. He crouched in front of him and reached the towel forward, touching his one cheek with it. Cloud pulled back in surprise.

"What are you doing?" he questioned fast.

"I, uh. I'm gonna fix ya up a bit. You could use it, trust me," he assured him. Cloud was hesitant but didn't resist when Syrus wiped the traces of blood from his face. Neither of them said anything else before Syrus left. _What the hell are you doing, man? _Syrus scolded himself shortly after. _Ya know this won't end well…_

Something told him it would be a long night.

000

It was late. Cloud had almost found himself nodding off when he heard the door to the cell opening. He waited for the person to speak but heard the door close instead, clicking and locking shut. For a moment he thought whoever it had been had left but he became aware quite quickly that there was definitely another presence there.

"Who's there?" he questioned uneasily. There was no response but he could hear breathing nearby. "Who are you? What's going on?" His voice shook with his rising fear. He pulled himself to his feet holding onto the wall next to him as he did. He gasped and recoiled fast when a hand touched some of his hair. "Who the hell are you?" he questioned louder, edging his way down the wall trying to get away from whoever it was.

"I don't normally do this," a voice spoke then. Cloud's stomach tightened then from his fluttering nerves. He knew he had heard the voice but he couldn't place it. He was sure it wasn't one of the goons.

"D-do what?" Cloud hazarded to question, still inching his way down the wall. It wasn't long before his shoulder touched the next corner of the room.

"It's just, Hojo refuses to give us any time off," the voice went on to explain. Cloud tried to figure out where it was coming from exactly. The room was so small that he couldn't be sure. "There's just no time to fulfill all your needs…No time for real…relationships."

Cloud jumped when he felt that hand again on his one cheek. His back hit the wall forcefully and he knocked the hand away with his own. "Don't touch me! Who the fuck are you?!" he questioned firmly, hiding his fear with mock anger.

"I promise to try and be gentle," the voice went on. "You may actually enjoy it…"

Those hands reached for Cloud again then. He was shocked to feel a mouth press itself up against his roughly and he could feel the scratch of stubble against his skin. Not a second passed and he shoved whom he had decided had to be one of the lab assistants away from him. He heard the assistant grunt as he stumbled back. Cloud pushed himself away from the wall then, groping blindly as he tried to find the bathroom, thinking that perhaps if he got himself in the smaller space he could better protect himself. He was stronger than the lab assistant but without being able to see him he was at a great disadvantage.

All he felt was open airspace before he was pushed hard from behind and his chest met the blunt surface of a wall suddenly, knocking the air from his chest. "Please, don't make this harder than it has to be!" the assistant spoke close to his ear, arms circling his waist and reaching for the buttons on his pants while hot lips pressed against the flesh on the side of his neck. Cloud swung his arm around, hoping to hit the assistant but was met with thin air as his target jumped back to avoid being hit.

Cloud found himself turning in circles, trying to make himself sense where the man was. It was hard to focus when he was scared out of his mind.

"I can try to make it good," the assistant assured. "Just let me do what I need to and I will leave."

"Fuck you!" Cloud responded fast, turning his head to the right, following a bit of shuffling he thought he heard. "I'm not letting you do shit! Why can't you assholes leave me and my friend alone?!" he shouted angrily. He cried out then when he was hit from behind, feeling hot pain shoot up his bruised back as he fell to his knees. The assistant tackled him then, forcing him to the floor where he struggled promptly to get away. He turned over, managing to pull his knee up and kick the assistant back, drawing a pained groan from him. He turned over once again, rising to his hands and knees. He hit his stomach only seconds later when the assistant threw himself on him. One knee pressed into his spine while another held down his right forearm. Something sharp pierced the skin of his upper right arm and he opened his mouth for a soundless cry before again wrestling the assistant off him.

He heard heavy breathing coming from the lab assistant then as he pulled himself across the floor and touched a wall, turning over and leaning his head and shoulders against it. _What's he doing?_ Cloud wondered as he listened to the breathing. He became suddenly aware then that he was growing unbelievably weak in just seconds. _No! _Cloud thought in horror as he realized the sharp pain he had felt in his arm must have been from a needle. At that very moment a sedative was running swiftly through his bloodstream. He heard movement then, and though his senses were becoming hazy he could tell the lab assistant was headed toward him. Hands closed around his ankles and pulled him away from the wall before letting go. He tried to fight back as he felt those hands begin to undress him, pulling his shirt off first. He pushed weakly at the assistant, mumbling threats at him as he felt him running his hands over his body.

By the time the assistant was trailing kisses down the side of his neck, nipping and sucking at his skin, he had lost all control of his body, unable to make himself fight back. The most he could do was move his fingers. The assistant was straddling him, grinding his body into him. It brought him back to that day in the bathroom with Vallow. The only difference now was that he was more terrified than he had been then. Then he had had control. He was helpless now. Tears slid from the corners of his eyes as he lay there, feeling the assistant's hands at his waist, undoing his pants and then sliding down his legs to pull them off him. His hands were reaching in his boxers, touching him, trying to arouse him. Cloud found himself thinking about the simulation Hojo had put him and Zack through while they were locked up in the D-Wing being punished. The pain had been so intense, so overwhelming. As he was turned onto his stomach and his boxers pulled downwards, he found himself wondering if the simulation had been accurate, if it was going to hurt _that _much. There was a moan of anticipation from the lab assistant as he was nestling himself down over him and pushing his legs apart slightly. Cloud shut his eyes tightly, waiting for what would happen.

Syrus had been debating with himself on whether or not he should go check on Cloud. _What's the harm in that?_ he asked himself as he headed for Cloud's cell. _The kid's pretty messed up right now…checking to see how he's doing isn't gonna hurt anybody. No one will know anyway _he rationalized, knowing he was the only one working night shift.

He punched in the access code on the keypad on Cloud's cell when he reached it, waiting for it to click open before pushing the door open. His mouth fell agape when he saw what he did. The guy he recognized to be one of Hojo's lab assistants looked back in surprise. He was straddling the boy on the floor, his intentions quite obvious. He looked up at Syrus with a horrified expression coming over him. Syrus spoke before he could. "What the fuck are you doing?!" he questioned forcefully. He didn't give him time to answer before stomping toward him, grabbing the back of his shirt collar and dragging him off Cloud. He slammed him up against the wall, anger pulsing through him.

"Look! No one has to know!" the assistant insisted, beads of sweat trailing down his face. "And who will care anyway? He's just a specimen," he justified with a nervous smirk. Syrus was disgusted. He threw a knee hard into the assistant's groin, watching his face twist in pain and hearing him groan loudly.

"Last time I checked, raping the _specimens_ wasn't part of your job description," Syrus seethed. He let go of the assistant, stepping back and watching him fall the floor.

"I could have you fired you know!" he struggled to spit out at Syrus from where he lay.

"You could. But you won't. I'd blow the lid off this fucked up perversion of science. If I were you I would be staying as far from this cell as possible. 'Cause if I ever catch you in here on your own again I'll happily tear your testicles from your body," Syrus warned. "Get the fuck out," he ordered then and watched the lab assistant redress his lower half hastily and take off. He turned his eyes to Cloud then, seeing him lying unmoving though his eyes were open and shifting nervously. "Motherfucker probably dosed you, didn't he?" he questioned as he bent down to pick up the emptied syringe off the floor. He pocketed it and then crouched beside Cloud, pulling his boxer shorts back up onto his body. He got his pants back onto him before turning him over gently. Cloud groaned as Syrus sat him up to get his shirt back on him. Tears were still trailing from his eyes slowly as he struggled to stay awake. "It's okay, kid. Go to sleep, I'll make sure that guy doesn't come back. He laid Cloud back down, waiting until he had finally passed out before leaving the room. He stood in the hall outside Cloud's cell, determined to make sure something like this didn't happen again. Specimens or no, it wasn't right.

Syrus took it upon himself to pull a double shift. He told himself it was because he needed the money but secretly scolded himself for his real reasons. He didn't feel comfortable going home and leaving the kid before he'd talked to him. _Why do I even care?_ he wondered. _Because no one deserves what he was set up to get and it's gotta be hell to deal with_ he answered himself. He couldn't deny he was actually somewhat eager to bring Cloud his food and vitamins in the morning. He was a little less so eager to bring Zack his. He knew there would be questions about his friend and he had been debating with himself over what he'd say.

Cloud was still where he'd left him the night before but was curled into himself, his body moving slightly as he breathed. Syrus stood over him, not sure what to do. He was obviously still sleeping. "Hey. Kid," he said hesitantly, crouching down and nudging Cloud with the back of his hand. He watched Cloud rouse slowly, his eye lids fluttering open then widening suddenly as he sat up fast. Syrus lifted the cups of water and vitamins high above his head as Cloud's arm swatted out toward him, nearly knocking them. "Kid, you're fine, stop freaking!" he spoke firmly and Cloud stopped moving. He took some shaky breaths.

"Syrus?" he questioned nervously. The goon nodded then rolled his eyes at himself, remembering Cloud couldn't see him.

"Yeah, kid," he responded and lowered his arms. "Here, open your hand," he said then. Cloud lifted his one hand palm up and Syrus set the cup of vitamins on it. He did the same with the water.

"Y-you were here last night," Cloud said then, tugging on the front of his own shirt a little.

"Yeah," he affirmed.

"You stopped him. You stopped him from—"

Syrus was almost thankful Cloud couldn't see the deep sympathy in his expression. "Well. I told you before I ain't no perv, kid. I also can't stand those who are," Syrus interrupted him softly.

"Th-ank you," Cloud spoke then, his voice continuing to shake and tears beginning to well up in his mako-affected eyes.

Syrus cleared his throat uneasily. "Here, eat," he said then as he held out the bowl to Cloud and waited for his hands to take it. "Gotta go see your buddy," he added as he stood straight once again.

"I don't want him to know," Cloud spoke fast, looking up towards Syrus though his eyes weren't exactly on him.

"Sure, kid," the goon agreed after a moment, heading out the door.

As predicted, Zack _did_ ask questions about Cloud and for some strange reason Syrus actually had a hard time lying to him. Between both boys' suffering, he was admittedly having a hard time remaining impartial. He was dragged from his contemplations, however, when he heard part of a conversation between Hojo and some Turk. They were in Hojo's office and Syrus caught the discussion as he was passing by.

"The president is demanding your presence in Midgar," the Turk spoke coolly. "He's temporarily suspending the project."

"What?!" Hojo's tone was uncharacteristically filled with unease. "That's preposterous!"

"It's truth."

"He can't do that!"

"Well he is, so wrap it up. You can continue your experimentation when the president wills it."

Syrus continued on his way, fearful of being caught eavesdropping outside the professor's door. _The project suspended? _he wondered. _What does that mean for the "specimens?" _

Unbelievably, what Syrus had heard was no lie. All scheduled experimentations and testing was delayed, he was told, indefinitely. Stupidly, he'd asked the professor if that meant he was going to release his specimens. The professor gave a sarcastic laugh and explained that the specimens would be placed in storage until the project was reopened. _Of course he's not letting them go, dumbass! _he scolded himself. _But storing the specimens? _he had no idea what Hojo had in mind for that but he knew it meant Zack and Cloud were on their way to a long slumber. He heard rumors that there were other specimens stored somewhere in the mansion's basement. The poor samples from some of Hojo's abandoned experiments. The thought that he may not see Zack or Cloud for awhile, or perhaps ever again, made him rather sad for a reason he couldn't quite understand. Though he knew he shouldn't, he headed to Cloud's cell to clear up something that had been on his mind for awhile.

000

The goon leaned back against the wall next to Cloud. He watched the kid as he rubbed his arms against the chill of the room.

"You asked me why I work for Hojo," he began uneasily, watching Cloud's face intensely. He saw him raise a questioning eyebrow and exhaled long before continuing. "Well a few years back I got involved with the wrong people. I racked up a lot of debt with Shrina. I wasn't really given an option. I was told I could work it off and that's what I'm doing. Apparently this position is a hard one to fill. On account of your buddy laying injuries on the guys every so often." He smirked to himself thinking about it. He had heard about some of the damage Zack had caused and seriously hoped he wasn't working the day Zack decided to go berserk once again. He glanced at Cloud to see his face somewhat grim. "Don't get me wrong, kid, I know you can hold your own. What you did to that guy, Vallow—"

"It's nothing to be proud of," Cloud cut him off.

"But the guy deserved it, right?" Syrus questioned. Cloud didn't respond but the answer was in his expression. Of course he had deserved it. "You're a good kid," he added then. A sad sort of half smile appeared on Cloud's face.

"I'm glad you're working for Hojo, Syrus," he said as he turned his blind gaze the goon's way. "I'll miss you when you're gone."

Alone later on in his living quarters, Syrus contemplated Cloud's words. They left him feeling depressed and somewhat useless. By becoming 'friendly' with Cloud and Zack he had failed to do his job properly. But by continuing to watch them suffer he had failed to be the type of person he knew he should be: humane. He called in sick for his shift the next day and would regret it because it was his last chance to talk to either one of them.

That morning, Zack and Cloud were brought to the lab together. What Cloud couldn't see, Zack could. There were what looked like two rectangular pods on the floor near the centre of the room. They looked to be around 7 feet long by 3 feet wide and made of the same thick glass as the mako cylinders. Zack knew immediately that's where he and Cloud were headed. He didn't like it one bit. Something didn't feel right. It was lacking the feeling of an 'experiment.' Somehow, Cloud was able to read him.

"Zack, what is it?" he questioned, shifting his gaze nervously. "What's wrong?"

"I dunno, Spike. We're in for something crazy, that's for sure," he answered straight, trying to keep calm about it.

"Well my little specimens," Hojo piped up then from behind them as he entered the lab. "While I can't say I'm happy, I'm sure you'll both be ecstatic for this."

"Yeah? Well why don't you tell us what the fuck _this _is?" Zack suggested.

"We shant be playing for a little while my puppets. But have no worries. I have prepared something to keep you busy for the time being," he explained abstractly. He nodded at the goon standing next to Zack who started to lead him to the one glass box.

"What the hell is going on, Hojo?" Zack demanded to know as he resisted being dragged over. One of the other goons joined in and together they began hauling Zack to the box, wrestling him down as he fought back.

"Zack!" Cloud called out to him frantically, not having any clue as to what was going on. "What's happening?!"

The goons got Zack down into the box, thier strength overpowering him only because he was still weak from the mako treatment he'd been given in the days before. A lab assistant held his arms while another sedated him.

Cloud felt a strong hand clutching his arm begin pulling him forward. He resisted fast, knowing that whatever was happening to Zack it wasn't good. "NO!" he shouted out in panic as more hands grabbed at him, forcing him over and down into the empty box. His elbows hit the strong glass on the sides of him as he tried to squirm his way out. He felt a sharp prick in his arm and memories of the recent attack on him rushed at him fast. "Wah-hut is thissss!" he cried out as he felt himself panicking with the feeling of weakness coming upon him.

"Cloud!" Zack's voice shouted. He turned his head in the direction. He felt a hand grab his from where he was gripping the ridge of the glass next to him. "Everything will be okay." He heard Zack's words clearly. They gripped him as tightly as his hand was. But it was only for a moment before the hold on his own hand broke and all he could hear were the sounds of the assistants shuffling around. Something came down over his mouth and nose. _Air mask?_ Another injection in his arm was next. More sharp insertions in his wrists. _So tired. I'm so tired_, he thought as he let his eye lids fall. _Where are we going? _he wondered as the haze thickened in his mind. _Home_, he decided then. _Home. To see Ma. To see Tifa. To see the sky…_

His last thoughts were of a blue, cloud-filled sky before his consciousness faded completely and he was drifting into the deep.


	30. Chapter 30

_Hey there guys! Wow, FINALLY Chapter 30! I am sooooo SO sorry it's taken so long. Life has been crazy crazy. But no worries. You guys are always near the top of my to-do list! I promise I'll never let you wait more than two weeks for an update. I'm so proud to have you guys all stick around this long to read this fic. It means a lot to me :D _

_Your reviews on the last chapter were incredible and pretty much brought tears to my eyes. As I expressed before, that chapter was one of my faves so far that I've written and it is really important to me lol. A lot of you really seemed to like it so that was really great for me to hear. ANYWAY, enough of my babbling. You've waiting long enough for this haha! Read on and enjoy y'all! _

_Cheers!_

_Disclaimer: If it's original FFVII, then it ain't mine lol._

Chapter XXX

"You _failure_."

The words were icy. They sounded like they were spoken by _him_ but never had a tone like that been expressed by him. Zack's eyes travelled across the room to see his mentor shrouded by shadows. He was leaning back against the wall, his strong arms crossed over his chest.

"You call yourself SOLDIER?" he spoke again. Each word struck Zack to his core, like being pummeled by a huge fist.

"Angeal, please, let me explain—" he pleaded wholeheartedly. The dark-haired main raised a large gloved hand, silencing him.

"There is nothing to explain, condisciple. You've allowed yourself to fall submissive to the enemy. Is that really what I taught you?"

"No, but I—" Zack tried once again to explain, moving closer to Angeal. He couldn't believe Angeal had just called him by his student status and not by his name.

"_Silence_," the looming SOLDIER ordered. "You aren't fit to carry that sword," he added darkly.

Zack stared into his former friend's eyes, they were so dark, not even the glint of mako was shining. He felt his own violet eyes filling with tears that threatened to spring to his cheeks with every blink. He lowered his head then, reaching behind him.

"You're right, sir," he agreed painfully, grasping the hilt of the sword at his back. He pulled it from its sheath slow, watching it shimmer in the dim light as he brought it in front of him, setting the tip of the blade on the floor. He knelt down on one knee, holding the hilt in both hands, keeping his head low. "Forgive me, sir."

He felt a strong hand push at his fingers, urging them to let go of the sword. He did so without any resistance, his arms falling to his sides as his mentor took hold of the sword that was once his.

"Forgiveness…is not mine to give," the man spoke then. Zack looked up to see him in attack stance. His eyes widened in shock before he shut them tightly and released a startled cry as the sword came down towards him.

He woke with a scream, tossing his head back and forth frantically to get a grip on where he was. _I was dreaming_, he told himself. Well, sort of dreaming. Is a dream really a dream when you aren't really sleeping? He had known from the beginning though he didn't understand it. Somewhere in the Shinra Mansion, he was lying in a glass case in a type of altered state of consciousness being submitted to one simulation after another. At first he'd searched for Cloud, in hopes that it was a shared simulation but he was never able to find his friend, not even a simulated version of him. How much time had gone by since the first simulation, he had no idea. There had been hundreds. Days? Weeks? Months? There was no way to be sure how long he'd been out of touch with reality.

On top of the simulations, his own mind struggled with hallucinations and 'dreams.' Things that didn't make sense to the simulation that he decided had to be of his own doing.

There wasn't too many things he hadn't experienced in the simulations. In the beginning he engaged himself in them, fulfilled whatever purpose there was for him to be there…but over time he grew tired and lost any ounce of care he had. The only reason he would even move himself from one place would be when the simulated hunger in his stomach became too much to bear and he was forced to seek out food.

His thoughts were never far from Cloud. In fact, Cloud was all he really thought about anymore. Many of the simulations he'd been put through himself were horrible. They were bloody, painful, and torturous. He saw many things he never wanted to see again. It scared him to think Cloud may be experiencing the same things. Cloud was strong and capable of holding his own but he was also young and hadn't even experienced the average horrors of war. Experiences like that had a way of changing a person, hardening them. He didn't want his friend to change, not anymore than he already had.

000

Somewhere in the middle of a fiery desert, Cloud clung desperately to the rocky surface he was pressing himself up against. He was shaking on the tips of his toes, hoping to God the narrow ledge on the cliff face he was standing on didn't give way suddenly. Digging his bloody fingertips harder into the rock and sand in front of him he listened hard. He could here shuffling steps heading toward the cliff edge. _Please, God…_he pleaded inside, dreading being seen.

"OY!" a voice boomed overhead. Cloud refused to look up, scared shitless that he'd been spotted. "You don't think he woulda jumped do you?" the voice questioned.

"No one's that stupid," another voice shouted.

"Well unless the little bastard can fly…"

There was a brief silence, the only sound the wind whistling over the cliff edge.

"Fuck it, let's go!" the second voice called.

"Right," the first agreed sadly. Whoever it was spit over the edge, the spittle just missing Cloud as it descended fast.

Cloud sighed in relief as he heard footsteps headed away from the cliff edge. He shifted his weight a little, thinking about how he was going to get himself back up to safety. Just then, the ledge broke away under his one foot and he released a startled cry, clawing the rockface harder and more desperately to keep from falling. _Shit_, he thought to himself as he heard quick shuffling back to the edge above him. He stared up and into the face of one of the men that had been tracking him for days now.

"THERE HE IS!" the man yelled out loudly to alert his companions. "Come to Nomer, Goldie Hair," he demanded in a mockingly nice voice while he reached a hand down to Cloud who recoiled and ducked from his hand. "Be a good bunny and get back up here!" he said with rising anger. His companions' faces appeared then. They smiled evilly.

"Nowhere to go but down, lad!" the one laughed.

"I'll get 'em!" the other chimed before disappearing momentarily. He returned with what looked like a barbed hook with a rope attached. He swung the hook down trying to snag Cloud's clothing. Cloud pressed himself up as close as he could get to the cliff face as he ducked and leaned away from the hook. His assailants were getting annoyed. The one drew the hook up once again before swinging it hard as he could. Cloud cried out when the barbs dug into his right shoulder. The three assailants cheered and the one began pulling on the rope. It drew another painful scream from Cloud's throat as he felt the hook digging deeper in his flesh and pulling upwards. His body surged with movement, desperate to get away from what was causing it pain. Unfortunately, that's all it took for the ledge to give way and have him plummeting downwards, the hook tearing through his skin, leaving a few barbs behind. Cloud reached for anything he could but was met with only air. It was a short fall, though it felt longer. He struck a few outcroppings on the way down, slowing his fall. Finally he landed on his back, rolling a few times down the mound of rock and sand built up at the bottom before coming to a stop on his stomach.

As he lay still, listening to the ringing in his ears and taking in shallow breaths, he began to feel the pain set in. The worst came to settle in the right side of his ribcage and his left shoulder. He wasn't surprised to have survived. He knew he would. He was somewhat surprised to still be conscious. Despite wanting to never move again, he knew he had to. No doubt his assailants would be heading down after him at that very moment. Slowly he lifted his head, moving his jaw around a little to rid it of the stiffness of falling on it. He rolled himself onto his back, coughing against the dust he'd stirred up. Gripping his left shoulder, he sat up slow.

"Jesus, kill me now…" he mumbled, tucking his legs under himself and trying to bring himself to a stand. His eyes surveyed the landscape. There was nowhere to go. He would be seen clearly anywhere that wasn't near the cliffs. He doubted he could climb anymore. He was too tired, in too much pain. He was going to be caught and he knew it.

000

Zack sighed, lifting himself from the shaded patch of grass he had been resting on. He scanned the horizon, letting his gaze rest on the hazy peaks of several rooftops in the distance. There was a town there that he hadn't yet decided if he wanted to approach. Every town in every twisted simulation held something bad. Something rotten to the core. There was almost always death involved. While he was determined to stay away from whatever obstacles Hojo has set up for him, his simulated hunger and thirst were starting to drive him mad. They made the hallucinations and dreams worse. He gave in eventually, standing and shuffling his way toward the town dejectedly.

As he neared the first buildings, an uneasy feeling began bubbling within him. Immediately, his senses threw themselves into overdrive as he noticed something very eerie. There were no sounds. Nothing. Nothing but the sound of the wind whistling across the eaves' of the houses and through some of the open or cracked windows. The place was decrepit. It looked as if not one person had lived there for decades. Chances of finding food fell from 'possible' to 'severely unlikely.'

Stalking quietly down one of the empty streets, he began to feel as though he were being watched. Feelings like that had him wishing the place really were deserted. He listened hard as he continued each step casually, trying not to give away his suspicions. He heard the distinct sound of scraping then. It was brief, lasting only a split second but it was there. The sound of claws scraping wood. The rooftops. Whatever it was that was watching him was doing it from above. He saw it then. It had moved incredibly fast. It had managed to jump from the rooftop of a nearby shop to the ground and scramble under the raised porch of another all in just the blink of an eye. A blur of black, that's all Zack caught. He stood frozen, his eyes fixed on the porch just ahead on the left side of the street. He could feel his heart begin beating harder in his chest. Every bit of his body was on high alert, anticipating attack. He knew it would come but there was no way to be prepared for it. As whatever it was tore out from under the porch toward him, all he felt was his stomach sinking fast before he was tackled hard enough to send him flying back several feet and rolling back several more.

000

Running was pointless but he did it anyway. The sound of the horses was thundering through his ears. They gained on him fast. There was no place for him to hide. The best chance he had had was the cliffs and that had failed. Right on his heels, the dust flew up when two of the horses galloped past him. Cloud halted in his tracks when one of them cut in front of him. The three of them circled him while he stood, panting hard and grasping his shoulder. _I'm so screwed_, he thought, anxiety gripping him. He turned himself around a few times, anxious about what his assailants were going to do next. He spotted a club being swung and ducked to avoid the hit. A loud hooting erupted from the three horsemen. _They know they've got me, why are they fucking around?_ Cloud wondered in frustration as he jumped back to avoid a whip coming at him. He turned to check what was coming at him from behind and dodged the club once again. Just then, he felt a hot striking pain in his ankle as something wrapped itself around it tightly. He realized only a moment later it was the whip as his foot was pulled out from under him hard and fast and he met the ground on his stomach. Immediately, he found his clothing filling with sand as he was being dragged across the open desert. The particles rubbed hard against his skin, covering him, getting caught in his hair and flying up into his eyes. His shoulder and ribs screamed in agony and though he tried to hold onto either of them he couldn't control his arms at the speed he was being dragged.

He gritted his teeth when they entered a rocky area. His body bounced off several off the rocks and pebbles. No doubt they were leaving bruised impressions on him. He gasped, seeing a group of larger rocks ahead and tried hard to tuck his head into his chest and cover it with his arms. It was no good. Two hits. The first struck his lower back causing him to cry out and let his head fall back, the second struck the back of his head and knocked him straight into unconsciousness.

000

Zack didn't have a chance to even register the hit he'd just got before there was another one. The creature, whatever it was, swiped him, one of its huge claws knocking him onto his back, tearing through his shirt and catching skin. He heard a deep, low growl from nearby. Tilting his head back, he found himself looking into the upside-down face of a beast he'd never seen before. Huge and black, long yellow teeth, fierce green eyes.

"What. The. Deuce." Zack said aloud as he stared down the beast. Slowly, he turned himself onto his stomach, never taking his eyes off the creature, its upside-down form becoming right-side-up. The growl gurgling from its large throat grew louder. Essentially the beast was like a huge dog but there were features that certainly made it like no dog Zack had ever seen. It was trembling as it growled and as its movements grew something happened to it. Its features seemed to morph, though it was subtle. The deep black of its fur gave way to a partially rotted carcass, showing decaying flesh and bone. But just as quickly as it had come, it was gone and there was only fur. "What are you?" Zack questioned aloud. The creature's mouth shot open then and it let out a horrendous roar. There was nothing dog-like about it. Zack turned fast from the heated breath that shot into his face. It smelt of death. "Geeze, try a fucking mint!" Zack shouted back at it. It went to pounce then and he grabbed for a rock nearby, pounding the beast in the snout as it attacked. It yelped and leapt to the side, shaking its head against the minor injury.

Zack wasn't wasting another second, he scrambled to his feet and ran for the nearest building, kicking open the front door and throwing it closed behind him, his back against it. "Need a weapon," he spoke aloud, looking around the dark room he'd just entered. His eyes fell on the hearth of a fireplace. Next to it was an iron poker. The door burst from behind him, knocking him forward. He looked back from his hands and knees to see the beast getting to its feet after just throwing itself into the door. He set eyes on the iron poker then, scrambling forward fast and grabbing it in his hand. He cried out as he felt the beast's sharp teeth clamp down around his ankle. He was being dragged out the building fast

Gathering his strength, Zack swung the iron hard, the sharp end of it digging into the beast's head. It released Zack's leg, whipping out of his reach, its body morphing grotesquely as it moved. Zack pulled himself to his feet, readying himself for the next attack. The beast leapt at him and he swung the iron, his arms shaking as it collided with the heavy form of the creature. It only deterred it a moment before it was rushing at him again, knocking him down as it threw itself into him. Zack brought himself up onto one knee as the beast circled him quickly. He focused hard, trying to anticipate the attack.

_Now_, he told himself and he turned his body a few degrees to meet the black blur coming at him. He jabbed hard with the iron poker, feeling it bury itself deeply into the creature's body, drawing from it a loud howl. It fell to its side, shaking as the blood spilled out of its chest. Zack didn't even wait to watch it die. He split the scene, limping on his injured ankle for one of the buildings at the end of the street. He pushed his way into the darkened shop, keeping his head low as he turned toward the door to close it. He pressed his forehead against it and took a deep breath to calm himself. His nerves were only just beginning to settle when a voice spoke and nearly had him leaping two feet in the air.

"Who are you?"

He spun on his heels to meet the end of a crossbow pointed toward him. At the other end was a young woman. Behind her, near the back of the room was a small group of people, huddled together, uneasy and looking somewhat scared. Only one word crossed his mind as he gazed at the crossbow aimed to kill. _Shit_.

000

When Cloud came to, he was aware immediately that he was moving. He opened his eyes and saw the ground moving below him and realized he was slung over the back of a horse. He shifted then, feeling pain in his side from the pressure against it.

"Awake now are you, bunny?" a familiar raspy voice questioned as a hand patted his backside firmly. The discomfort of the gesture was too much for Cloud to ignore as he began shuffling his body, trying to get out of reach of the man. "I wouldn't be doin' that—" he began to warn but it was too late as Cloud felt his lower body sliding off the horse, followed by the rest of him. He landed on the ground with a thud. The assailants chuckled. "Best pick yaself up, bunny, we ain't stoppin'!"

He wasn't lying, Cloud realized immediately as a rope tied tightly around his wrists pulled at his arms. The rope was secured to the horse's tack. He struggled to pull himself up, stumbling at first to his knees, he was dragged a bit before he managed to get to his feet again. The men were traveling at a pace that kept Cloud on his toes, the rope attached to his arms always pulling at him, urging him to keep up. He was exhausted and aching allover, wanting nothing more than to lie down and pass out but he pushed himself to keep focused and alert as possible.

He had tried the hopelessness path before. In some of the earlier simulations. He stopped fighting back, thinking it'd be better to just let himself die. It was after all, a simulation. He soon realized, however, that if he refused to fight back against whatever was hurting him the torture would just go on and on. He never died. In fact, that was the only way to really be sure he was living a simulation was that he never did die. The only way to end the pain was to fight back and, when necessary, kill. He tried to tell himself it wasn't real. The people he killed weren't real, but…the sensations were real. Every time he looked into the eyes of the person he was killing he saw a life slipping away. He felt permanently bloodied, tainted. He had experienced everything and nothing all at the same time.

He glared at his captors, taking in their features. He had never seen men like them before. They were covered mainly in robes meant to keep them protected from the fierce desert sun. Two of them had long hair, one had thick dreadlocks and the other's was drawn back into a loose ponytail. The third was bald. All three were darkly tanned and looked to be in their late twenties or early thirties. The bald one, the one who had called himself Nomer, had many tattoos adorning his scalp and from what Cloud could see of his arms. There was a long scar that ran down the right side of his face all the way down his neck. He had several earrings but it was the one with the dreads that wore the most jewelry. He had piercings in his ears, eye brows, nose, lips and tongue. They caught the glint of the setting sun as he rode on. There was very little defining the third man. He wore a black bandana and some smudges of war paint on his cheeks. They had the definite air of slave traders.

_Hmph, slave traders_, Cloud thought to himself in mild disbelief. He had no idea they even still existed. Really, there was no way to be sure. It was a simulation after all. Even in the real world there was no way to really be sure. _This place isn't exactly Midgar_. Looking around, all Cloud could see was sand and rocks. He had been in the current simulation for days. He'd fled a group of soldiers of some unknown army in some unnamed town and found himself lost in the desert. Not long after, he had come upon his three assailants and been foolish enough to try snagging some of their water supply without being seen. Since then they'd been on his tail. He managed to lose them a few times but they were never far off. They were like the vultures that circled the heated landscape, desperate to find prey.

Dusk, Cloud had come to learn, was the best time of day you could hope for out there. It was the only time you didn't feel like your blood was boiling under your skin. It was that brief time before it suddenly grew cold. Colder than one would imagine for a desert. It brought no comfort. The days in the sun had made Cloud tired, weak, and thirstier than he'd ever though possible. His exposed skin stung in pain when touched due to heavy sunburn. His tongue was like a thick mass in his mouth he wanted to be rid of. It didn't even serve to moisten his dry, cracked lips anymore.

His feet were what drew his attention for the time being, however. Blistered and throbbing, they begged for rest but every time he slowed his steps, the tug on his arms reminded him he had no choice in the matter. By the time the sun had set, his head was hanging and he was just barely stumbling along. He knew they were approaching another cliff face, which he assumed was where they were headed. From far in the distance he could see the yellow of a fire burning and watched it grow as they neared it. His legs gave out when they finally halted, falling to his knees. The men dismounted their horses, the bald one untying the rope attached to Cloud from his own horse. Footsteps headed toward them. Cloud raised his head to see two young men—no boys, barely teenagers, coming to collect the horses. Cloud watched them a moment before glancing upwards. Overhead loomed a tall watch tower. He couldn't see anyone atop but knew there had to be someone there.

"Cam on, bunny," the bald captor said in his thick accent that Cloud couldn't place. He felt a hard tug on his rope-burned wrists, forcing him to his feet again. He traipsed along behind the man, squinting through the darkness to see where they were headed. He had a new hatred for darkness since being stricken blind by Hojo. It hadn't left his mind since he had first woken to the simulation world, would he still be blind when he woke in the real world?

As he climbed his way up a short incline behind his one captor he could see a bouncing light come into view. Seconds later they were in a clearing lit brightly by a fire. Cloud's eyes fell immediately upon a group of young males and females near the back of the clearing, their wrists tied and secured to the rock wall behind them. There was about ten of them. It was difficult to be sure of their ages. Most seemed roughly around his age. None looked older than eighteen and a few of them were definitely younger than him, just children really. All were cloaked roughly in sheet-like clothing. They were all fairly dirty looking and just as scared as Cloud felt but wasn't about to let show on his face. He decided then, the men that had captured him were definitely slave traders.

_This is bad_, Cloud thought to himself with a deep rising dread.

000

"Who are you?!" the young woman repeated, shoving the tip of the arrow on the cross bow a little closer to Zack's neck. He held his hands at chest height and pulled a smile to his lips.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," he assured the woman and the others standing back behind her.

"No shit! You're the one gonna be hurting if you don't tell me who you are!" the young woman spat, her deep brown eyes flashing fiercely. Suddenly Zack was very aware of how attractive she was. Tall and slim, long, dark red hair the colour of cherrywood flowing over her shoulders.

"My name's Zack—" he began to explain softly, his friendly grin never fading.

"Why are you here?" the young woman cut him off.

"I came looking for food and water, I've been travelling for awhile—"

"From where?" she interrupted once again.

"I…I don't really know. Look, I honestly have no idea where I am. I didn't mean to intrude on you. I'll leave if you want," he suggested as he reached for the door knob behind him.

"Stop!" the young woman ordered and he paused. "You're SOLDIER?" she questioned firmly then. Zack struggled with how he should answer. In the past towns, admitting to being SOLDIER had gotten him nothing but more trouble.

"Why…do you ask?" he inquired uneasily.

"You're mako-affected," she pointed out, motioning her cross-bow to his eyes.

"Uh…well. Yes. I am. And yes, I am—or I _was _a SOLDIER…once," he reluctantly admitted. The girl's dark eyes narrowed.

"But not now?" she questioned suspiciously and he nodded. "Why?"

"I…would rather not say, if ya don't mind," he answered with a hint of mild irritation. "Now are you gonna shoot me or can you get the bow out of my face?"

After a moment, the young woman lowered the crossbow. "Well you're a long way from Midgar, _ex_-SOLDIER. What'd you do? Run away from home?" she spoke sarcastically.

"Midgar's _not_ my home," Zack responded harshly, though he hadn't really meant to. "You gonna tell me where we are?"

"Dolgia State. In the former town of Patrick."

"Former town?"

"Does it look up and running to you?"

Zack ignored the jab. "Dolgia State. Jesus. That's the other side of the flippin' continent," he muttered as he scratched the back of his head.

"Good job. You must be a geography buff," the girl spoke monotonously.

"You got a name, Miss Pleasant?" Zack asked then.

"Ava."

"Well, Ava, are you guys all that's left of this place?" He looked back at the others huddled at the back of the room. Ava nodded firmly. "What happened?"

"You want the _whole _story?" she questioned, setting her crossbow down and crossing her lean arms over her chest.

"Yes," Zack agreed.

"Well have a seat, bud," she replied as she pulled a chair out from the nearby table. "Cause it's a long goddamn story."

000

The rope around Cloud's wrists was secured tightly to a metal loop embedded in the rockwall. "Time to get a look at you," the trader in dreads spoke as he unsheathed a hunting knife and advanced. Cloud's back hit the rock wall behind him as he backed up. The other two forced him to face the wall, pushing him up against it. He could hear the sound of material ripping. He felt the brisk night air hit the skin of his back. He struggled in the holds of the men, which seemed pointless because he was still eventually robbed of his shirt. He pushed back against them, twisting his body away as they tried to keep him still. "You're gonna have to stop moving if we're gonna get this back of yours cleaned up!" the dreadlocked trader spoke close to his ear.

A fistful of his hair was clutched then and tugged roughly, halting his movements momentarily. The bald-headed trader named Nomer stared into his eyes, a wide grin crossing his face. "Be good, Goldie Hair and maybe you get something to moisten them pretty lips of yours, hmm?" he snarled. Cloud stopped resisting. He wanted water badly. He _needed _it. He placed his palms against the cool rock in front of him, his shoulders hunched slightly as he shivered in the night air. He couldn't see what tool was being used but whatever it was it was dug into the ripped flesh on the back of his shoulder, drawing long groans of pain from him. The barbs from the hook that had been embedded in his skin earlier were dug out. He felt some sort of sticky paste being slathered over the wound then. While the texture was extremely unpleasant, the feeling it brought was soothing. More of it was applied to several other cuts on his back, inflicted while he was being dragged across the desert earlier.

When the aid of his back was complete, Nomer came toward him with a bucket and a ladle. "Kneel," the trader demanded firmly. Cloud glared back at him before complying reluctantly, lowering himself to his knees in the dirt. Nomer lowered the ladle toward him. A few droplets of water ran down and under the ladle's circular form to drip from the bottom. Cloud put his lips to the edge of it, feeling the cool liquid caress his dry and aching mouth. His body was almost shaking as he gripped for the ladle with his hands and began gulping down the clear bliss. He took it down almost too hastily, losing some at the sides of his mouth, feeling it run down his neck and chest. It was finished all too quickly and the ladle was pulled from his weak grip. His thirst was hardly satiated but the likelihood of him getting anything more was slim. "Get some rest, Goldie Hair, gots a long trip tomorrow," Nomer said with a sneer. A smirk accompanied it as he added "The Brothers are really gonna like you." There was something unbelievably unsettling about that last remark.


	31. Chapter 31

_Hey guys, just a quick note and warning. First, this chapter's mostly following Cloud so I appologize if it disappoints any of you to not have Zack in there more. It's only for this chapter haha! Just a little warning as well that there is sexual content that some may be sensitive to. Nothing really graphic though so I think y'all will be alright :)_

_Disclaimer: FFVII belongs to Square Enix. _

Chapter XXXI

Cloud tossed his head for about the millionth time trying to get that one persistent spike of hair out of his eyes that had been driving him mad the whole time he'd been walking. He'd gladly have used his hand to do so if he could have. Unfortunately, his wrists remained tied by rope that was secured around the waist of the person in front of him. He, himself, had a rope tied round his own waist that was attached to the person behind him. He and the others that had been rounded up by the traders in the proceeding days had been tied together like that for transport. Like a human train. It was a pain in the ass, Cloud decided early on. Every time one of the group tripped, stumbled, or fell behind, the whole chain felt it, sometimes getting pulled back or forward suddenly. Every jolt reminded Cloud of how sore his wrists were. His whole body ached. When they'd first left the camp, just before sunrise, he had barely been able to walk. As his stiff joints and muscles loosened it was easier. He was so incredibly thirsty, his head pounded out of dehydration.

He had no idea where they were headed but he wished to hell they would get there already. It was high noon and the sun was blazing. He'd been given a tunic-like shirt to wear and something like a cloak to protect himself against the sun. Perhaps it was keeping him from getting horribly sunburned but it did nothing to keep the heat away. The air was so heavy and hot, it was like walking through a furnace. The traders of course had it much easier. The horses they rode laboured for them, their lean bodies glimmering in sweat. They chatted idly, looking back every now and then at Cloud and the others. The human chain, however, was not allowed to speak. Not that they would really be able to if they could. The only sounds that would come out of them would be pants.

Cloud heard a groan coming from behind him then. He glanced back in time to see the boy at his back collapse. Instantly, there was a hard tug on his waist, pulling him backward. Like dominoes, each person was yanked backwards, barely keeping footing. At the front of the line, the traders were still moving, the wrists of the first person tied with a rope secured to one of the horses. It didn't take a genius to see where this was going. There was a hard pull on Cloud's wrists, urging him forward but there was no way he was moving unless he was going to drag the boy behind him with him, which is essentially what he ended up doing for a moment before he shouted down at him. "Get up!" he demanded. The boy stumbled to try and get to his feet. His face was sheet white. He wasn't sweating anymore. That was a bad sign.

"I…can't," the boy barely breathed, letting himself go limp. Cloud felt like his arms were going to be wrenched from their sockets. No way he was going to be able to drag someone along behind him. He could barely keep himself going.

"Stop!" he called up to the front of the line. One of the traders looked back, a look of irritation on his face. The horses were halted and Cloud exhaled in mild relief feeling the strain on his arms dissipate.

"Who spoke!" the trader shouted as he approached. It was the one with the dreads and facial piercings.

"I did," Cloud admitted firmly. The trader came up next to him staring down at him, eyeing him hard. Cloud refused to be intimidated. "He needs help," he added as he gestured to the fallen boy behind him. The trader stared at him hard for a moment more before proceeding to remove the boy from the line. He slung his limp form over his shoulder, pausing before heading back to his horse. He had stopped just as he passed Cloud. He turned back and without a word raised his one arm. In one quick second Cloud felt a stinging flash of pain in his right cheek from the back of the trader's hand.

"Not another word!" the trader's spoke harshly before heading away. Impulse had Cloud wanting to raise a hand to his cheek but he was reminded again as he was bout to that he couldn't reach. Instead he clamped his jaw tightly and bore holes with his eyes into the trader's back as he walked away.

000

Zack sat on the edge of the bed he'd spent the night in, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had to remind himself where he was at first. It came back to him quick enough. Somewhere down the hall slept the last residents of the former town of Patrick. He was still in shock over what he'd learned the night before.

"People started getting sick. It was in the water. No one knew till it was too late."

Ava's words still lingered fresh in his mind.

"One by one, the people died. It began with the very old and very young but eventually it affected everyone. The town went from a population of nearly a thousand to about 30 in just months…Then, one day, _they _showed up."

"Who?" Zack had questioned.

"The people in suits. The Turks. They came to finish off all those left over," Ava explained.

Zack refused to believe it at first. The Turks? That would mean Shinra was behind the water contamination. That would mean they were responsible for killing off hundreds of people, and for what? Ava had no answers to that. The more he thought about it though, the easier it was to believe. _Look what Shinra's done to you and Cloud, you idiot!_ he scolded himself. Although he knew he was living in a simulation, he couldn't help but wonder if perhaps something like what Ava had described may actually be happening in reality. If so, he wanted answers. And he knew where to get them. Dapple State. Shinra had a head office there and it wasn't far from where they were.

He proposed the idea to Ava though he intended to go there with or without her. She was all for it. The plan was a go.

000

By late afternoon, Cloud and the others had arrived at their 'destination,' a rather dilapidated-looking warehouse. It was on the outskirts of a town. Inside, Cloud and all the others were lined up against the one wall. Two men had been waiting. Undoubtedly, they were 'the brothers.' Cloud was pretty sure about that because the men looked identical, save for their clothing. Both were tall, slim, with jet black hair, green eyes and tanned skin. Both wore black pants but the one had a blue button-up shirt while the other had a white one. They moved down the line, walking in different directions. They even walked the same, hands clasped behind their backs, taking slow, deliberate steps.

"Interesting," the one in the blue shirt spoke in a silky tone. He and his brother halted at opposite ends of the line and turned back. They paced back toward the middle, halting in front of Cloud. Cloud watched the white-shirted man's hand reach past his face before he felt a tug on the hood of his cloak, pulling it from his head.

"_Very _interesting," the other man added as he touched a bit of Cloud's blond hair.

"We don't get much product these days with these types of…attributes." The first went on.

"Thought you might like that one," Nomer spoke up from where he stood, donning a proud smirk on his face.

"His eyes shine like stars," the second brother pointed out, clutching Cloud's chin. Cloud pulled out of his grip quickly and the dread-locked trader stepped forward fast, bringing his hand up to strike him. Cloud flinched and shut his eyes as he waited for the hit but it never came.

"No," the first brother spoke softly and Cloud opened his eyes to see him holding the trader's wrist. The trader lowered his head and his arm and stepped back.

"What do you think, Chase?" the white-shirted brother questioned.

"Oh, I think you know me well enough, Zoren," the other responded with a smirk.

The brothers turned to the traders then. "We'll take those two," the one named Zoren spoke, pointing at two boys near the far left of the line. "And the starry-eyed boy," he added. Cloud's heart sank.

000

"_These _are for you," one of the gruff guards in the large 'dorm' room in the brothers' home said as he shoved a small stack of clothing at him. "Shower and change. Zoren wants to see you upstairs in forty-five minutes," he added.

Cloud scanned the room. There were at least fifteen beds in the large room. About ten were being used though their occupants weren't in the room. The only people in the room at that moment in time were Cloud, the two boys he'd been traded with, and the guard. There was a bathroom located off the dorm with several stalls and a large open shower area. As much as Cloud wasn't exactly eager to strip down, he was also in desperate need of a shower.

Standing under the spray of hot water, facing the tiled wall, he could hear the sounds of other boys entering the dorm. Questions had been racing through Cloud's mind about where he was and what kind of place it was. So far, the treatment had been surprisingly good. _Was I not bought from slave-traders?_ he questioned himself. No doubt _something_ was expected of him. He suspected he'd learn what that was when he met with the brother Zoren.

Lost in his thoughts, he was a little surprised when he realized he wasn't alone in the washroom anymore. He could sense the presence of someone behind him so he turned slightly. Standing just outside the shower area was a guy probably a few years older than him. About nineteen. He had light brown hair and dark eyes. He grinned when Cloud looked back at him. "New meat, huh?" he questioned and Cloud turned away from him. A few moments later he had stepped into the shower next to Cloud, turning on his own showerhead. There was silence then for a few minutes before the guy spoke again. "You're pretty hott, you know that?" Cloud glanced at him to see if he was being serious. He'd never had someone say that to him before. "You're gonna be a big hit around here, I know it."

Sufficiently uncomfortable, Cloud shut off the showerhead and reached for a towel, leaving the area promptly. He dressed himself in the black pants and white shirt he'd been given. When he was finished dressing, he sat on what was now his bed and waited for when he was to see Zoren.

000

"What are you called, starry eyes?" Zoren questioned as he sat on a black leather sofa, waiting for Cloud to pour him a glass of wine.

Cloud let out a bit of a frustrated exhale before answering. "Cloud," he said shortly as he pulled the cork from the wine bottle, releasing a loud popping sound.

"Of course you are," the man replied with a smile of moderate amusement. He watched intently as Cloud poured red wine into a glass. As Cloud reached the glass toward him, Zoren took it in one hand while clasping his other hand around Cloud's. Cloud recoiled instantly but was held fast by the brother. The man held Cloud's gaze for a few long uncomfortable moments before letting him go. "You don't like to be touched," he commented then and Cloud scoffed.

"What gave it away?" he snapped.

"Such a hard attitude for someone with such gentle looks," Zoren mused. _Gentle looks? _Cloud questioned internally. _I should show him what my _gentle_ fist can do. _"If you relaxed a little I think you could grow to like it here," the man suggested. Though he didn't express it, Cloud found Zoren's statement laughable.

That night he managed to sneak his way out of the giant house with intentions of escape, only to find himself faced with an extraordinarily tall stone wall that bordered the perimeter of the property. He was tracked down shortly by two of the security guards. One suffered a broken nose and the other a few cracked ribs before Cloud was subdued through the use of a taser gun and brought back to the dorm area. He'd expected to be punished for it but wasn't. He realized early on in his captivity that the brothers preferred to keep their 'boys' in good condition. It didn't take him long to figure out why. One of the others in the dorm enlightened him. The brothers ran an exclusive 'escort' service.

What was more shocking than the thought that the boys were all there to provide services to clients was the fact that some of them enjoyed what they were forced to do. They had nothing but praise for the brothers and welcomed having clients request to see them. Cloud had been a firecracker since arriving, injuring several of the security guards over a week's time, and so the brothers resisted the temptation to provide clients access to him. But that didn't last forever of course. It was a Friday night. Nine days after he'd arrived at the house, when Cloud was forced to meet his first client. He didn't know what to expect but he knew two things, there would be hell to pay if he refused and he'd be giving hell to the client if he tried to lay a hand on him.

They never left the house. The client was seated in a private room in one of the guest wings of the house. Cloud was given specific instruction that he was to fulfill every need of the client, whether it be filling a wineglass, providing the other end of a conversation or any other favours they requested. An hour into their time together, all Cloud had done was sit next to the client, his arms crossed and his right ankle resting on his left knee. He stared straight ahead as the client droned on and on about his life, downing one scotch after another, which he poured himself. He had offered some to Cloud and it had only been accepted simply because he was not allowed to refuse. The glass sat on the end table next to him, untouched save for a sip.

After nearly three hours, the client's arm was resting on the back of the sofa, near Cloud's head. He was blatantly drunk. That much was clear. "Do you ever talk?" the client questioned. Cloud kept his gaze forward.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Just not to me?"

"You seem to do alright on your own," Cloud pointed out sharply.

"Well if you don't want to talk…there are other things we could do," he suggested as he sifted his fingers through some of Cloud's hair at the back of his head.

"I don't do…_things_," Cloud retorted in a low tone. The man chuckled.

"Yet. You will. _Technically_, you have no choice. If I will it," he spoke sensually as he rested his arm around Cloud's neck and slid his hand down inside his shirt, "you'll do it."

Cloud turned his head toward the client, locking onto his eyes. "If you don't get your hand out of my shirt I'll break your fingers," he warned sternly.

"Will you now?" the client prodded. Cloud grabbed the man's hand through his shirt squeezing his fingers hard. The man's smile faded as the pressure increased in his hand causing some of the joints to produce a cracking sound. There was a knock at the door then. Just one knock before the door opened and a guard entered.

"Times up," he called out and Cloud stood up fast, sliding past the guard in the doorway and headed back to the dorm. He didn't even want to think about the past three hours or about anything for that matter. Later, as he lay in the dark of the dorm room all he could think about was how the only thing worse than his life at that moment was knowing that it wasn't even happening. His brain was only being made to think it was. It was strange to think that while one part of his brain knew the truth, the other just couldn't see it.

His thoughts were overshadowed gradually by strange sounds coming from a few beds down from him. At first it sounded like someone in pain, their groans muffled by something, possibly a pillow. There were other sounds as well. It was a few moments more before he realized the sounds were of pleasure, not pain. Realizing what was going on no more than twenty-five feet away from him made him wish for silence like he'd never wished for it before. He thought the silence would make it easier to sleep, yet once the sounds had diminished and silence set in the sleep would not come.

The next experience Cloud had with a client was one he knew he would never be able to rid his mind of, no matter how many times he would tell himself it didn't happen. The name of the client was Mr. L. He had no clue if that was his real name. He doubted it and really, he didn't care. The brother Chase informed him ahead of time that Mr. L was an important client. More important than most. Important enough that he was warned, if the client left unhappy he was not going to get away unpunished. He wasn't about to take the threat seriously until the brother added that he'd be provided to less _patient _clients, and failing that be sent to 'market,' whatever that meant.

Mr. L was a man a little on the larger side with a neatly-trimmed beard and mustache. He was well-groomed, polite, yet stern. They sat in silence for the first half hour, Mr. L only staring at him, studying him. Suddenly, the man spoke. "I'm going to have a bath. And I want you to join me."

"I'd rather not," Cloud replied firmly. L smiled.

"Don't worry. I promise not to touch you if you don't want me to," he assured before rising from the sofa and heading into the en suite bathroom. Cloud listened to the sound of the water running. It was the only sound for several minutes before L came to the doorway and spoke one low-toned word. "Come."

When Cloud finally worked up the nerve to enter the washroom, L was already in the large oval shaped tub. Cloud entered the tub in his boxer shorts. He sat down opposite L, his knees drawn up and just breaking the surface of the water and his arms down, the palms of his hands against the porcelain of the tub's bottom. L stared at him through the mist of steam.

"Is the temperature all right?" he questioned. Cloud said nothing. He wasn't even feeling the temperature of the water around him. L spoke again after a moment. "I asked for the finest-looking young man. I didn't expect _you_. You are a _very _attractive young man."

Cloud cast his eyes to the left, focusing on the sink not too far away. The facet was releasing slow drips every few seconds. Right then, he thought of Tifa. It had been a long time since he'd thought about her. How long, he wasn't sure. Weeks? Months maybe? He wondered if she saw him now what she'd think of him. Would she think him attractive? If she did, would she tell him?

"I want you to do something for me," Mr. L's smooth voice entered his head again.

"What?" Cloud questioned without looking at him.

"I will show you. I'll need to touch your hand to show you," L began to explain. Cloud turned his eyes on him once again. He hoped they didn't show the deep fear he was feeling. "After I show you, I promise not to touch you again. And you won't have to do anything else." Cloud only managed the slightest of nods in agreement. After all, he didn't have much of a choice. And the man promised to not lay a hand on him, outside of what was necessary. Unfortunately, the deal was a good one. Or so he imagined. He suddenly felt cold, however, as Mr. L told him to come closer.

Kneeling in front of the man, he felt Mr. L's hand clasp his own lightly under the water and direct it toward his groin area. His fingertips bumped into L's erect member. He pulled back instantly but the man held onto his hand. "It's okay," he assured Cloud as he urged him to back toward it. With his hand closed around it, L began moving Cloud's hand for him, showing him how he liked to be handled. After a minute, L's hands left Cloud's, just as he'd promised. Cloud shut his eyes and tried to imagine he was doing anything else.

Nothing. He could think of nothing. Not even the lyrics to a random song. Just then, he was hit with an image of Vallow. With him came the faces of many others. Shinra guards, the lab assistants. It was unlikely he'd ever know which one of the assistants had tried to attack him that one night that seemed to be forever ago. _Is this all I'm ever going to be? _he wondered sadly. _Some fucking victim_. _Zack would never let himself be a victim_. It was true. Even when it came to Vallow, he was the one who made that decision. He was reminded suddenly of how much he missed his friend. He missed hearing his voice. He missed his ever-present smile. He missed having someone around who was looking out for him. As much as he had always complained about Zack always making it his job to take care of him, he would have given anything to have that now.

Cloud had no idea how enveloped he'd become in his thoughts until he felt a hand on his once again. He opened his eyes and looked at Mr. L. His face was glazed from sweat and he looked about ready for a nap. "You can stop now," he said with a soft smile. Cloud hadn't noticed the man's climax. He wasn't upset about it either.

Just as the man had promised, he didn't ask Cloud for anything else. L dismissed him, saying "I enjoyed very much the pleasure of your company. I hope to see you again." Cloud was almost sorry to not feel the same. Almost.

Despite the fact he'd just spent a good while in the bathtub, the first thing he did when he returned to the dorm was head for the shower. He stood with his forehead and palms pressed against the tile wall, the water beating at his shoulders and back as he took deep breaths through his mouth. He felt sick. And he was so tired. So tired but unable to sleep. He was in deep conflict with himself about whether he should be fighting harder or not. It was a goddamn simulation, so why should he care what happens to him inside of it. He knew the answer. He just didn't want to accept it. The answer was: _because it still hurts just as much and it'll stay with me forever._

He knew he wasn't alone in the bathroom. Even before a hand rested on his waist. But the contact snapped him back to life. He knew it was the same guy that approached him in the shower on the first night he was there. Just as he knew he was also the sexual fiend that just couldn't get enough with his clients that he had to spend the afterhours coercing the other boys in the dorm into many acts of sexuality. Cloud wouldn't have been surprised if he was the only one the guy hadn't had relations with in the dorm. His current advance in the shower didn't immediately anger Cloud. Rather, it exasperated him. He was just so tired of the constant harassment. The only thing he said at first was "Don't." It didn't seem to phase the kid any. His response was to snake his other hand around Cloud's stomach. The gesture set off the spark of anger then and he warned him again "Get your hands off me now or I'm going to hurt you," he said in a harsh tone, drawing his forehead back from the tile.

The kid's lips came close to Cloud's right ear as he whispered "Hurt me and I may like it." He reached down then to touch Cloud but never made it there. Cloud grabbed hold of his hand, wrenching it back and twisting his arm as he pivoted behind him. He slammed the kid's face into the tile wall before letting him go. He left him there holding onto his broken nose while his blood was mixing with the water of the shower and running down one of the drains. The guy didn't bother him again.

Cloud had taken a stand that night without really knowing it and it was debatable whether or not it was a good thing. He decided the victimization was finished. If he had any control at all, he'd fight it. He didn't care how much pain it caused him. The next night he proved that when he broke the arm of the client he was supposed to be _servicing_. He was brought to the brothers immediately. Needless to say, they weren't impressed.

"You don't like our clients?" Chase questioned.

"I'm not some _thing _you can just lend out to people," Cloud responded quickly.

The brothers glanced at one another before Zoren spoke. "There would be many rewards for you if you make our customers happy."

"Not interested," Cloud stated firmly.

"Perhaps you'd rather serve only us," Chase suggested, one of his dark eyebrows rising curiously.

"I'd _rather_ not be here," Cloud retorted.

"There are far worse places to be than here," Zoren pointed out.

"I'll take my chances."

The brothers studied him for a long moment. Finally, Zoren sighed, waving a hand to the nearby guard before uttering a quiet "As you wish."

The next morning, Cloud was taken from the brothers' home and driven a fair distance before being dropped off at the back of a very dingy looking building. He was passed off to a large hulk of a man that smelled grossly of his own body odor and dragged down to what appeared to be a cellar where he was locked away with five dirty and depressed looking young men. It flashed in his mind that no doubt after a short time in those conditions he was going to be looking just as _good _as them.

His 'master's' name was Getts. That's all he was called. Getts. Every gross or unfavourable habit a person could have, Getts had it. And yet somehow managed to run a business. Not much of one. But a business, nevertheless. He owned and ran a hotel. Probably the only one in the town. And it was a cheap one at that. The customers were less than sanitary when they used the rooms. Cloud found that out fast as he discovered it was his and the other _slaves_ job to clean the rooms. He had never seen so much human waste in his life. One would think that you would become desensitized to it. That was bullshit. He still had to stop in the middle of unplugging a toilet or sink every now and then to puke his guts out. It was times like that when he found himself screaming at the ceiling "HOJO! WHAT THE FUCK IS THE POINT OF ALL THIS!"

There was no point. Well besides torment. That was Hojo's reason for most things. Torment. If he couldn't accomplish anything he might as well be an asshole and have his fun.

A few weeks in his new hell had gone by when he was allowed to set foot outside once again. Getts was heading to the 'market' and needed some human donkeys to "carry back his shit for him" as he explained when he grabbed Cloud and another two boys to take with him. Getts's 'business partner' was also accompanying them. Really he was there to help pull the leash on the boys.

"Any of you rats utter a fuckin' word and I'll hit you so hard you won't feel your legs for a week!" Getts threatened as he let them out of the back of the truck they had travelled in. He wasn't kidding. Violence seemed to be all Getts knew. There wasn't a day Cloud and the others didn't get smacked for something. He figured the man did it just to let them know he could.

Cloud never expected what happened to happen that day. They hadn't been in the market long. He was scanning over the crowd, eyeing up all the different carts and displays when he spotted something that sent him into alertness-overdrive. Deep in the mass of people, his eyes fell upon a familiar face. It was Zack.

At first, all he could do was stare in shock, not believing he was actually seeing him. Once he was convinced, his first instinct was to run toward him but he remembered fast his ankles were shackled. He wouldn't make it very damn far. He grew instantly anxious as he watched his friend moving through the crowded market. Each time Zack's head turned in his direction a rush of hope went through him that his friend would see him.

_Look over here, Zack! C'mon, this way. Look this way! _he pleaded silently.

"Come on…" he whispered, glancing nervously at Getts and his partner. It wasn't working. Zack wasn't looking. He was going to walk away and it may have been the only chance for them to see each other again in the simulated world, or ever for that matter.

He took one last glance at the Getts before opening his mouth to shout. "ZACK!" The word seemed to echo out over the whole market. Cloud could see Zack halt in his tracks. "Yes," he spoke as he watched his friend. "Za—"

Cloud's second shout was cut short when he was struck hard from behind, the blow landing at the back of his head. He found himself on the ground in a second. He clutched the back of his head and hunched himself over the ground, anticipating the inevitable following blows.

Zack scanned the crowd. Straining to see through all the bustle. A hand closed around his arm then and drew his attention. He turned to see Ava looking at him curiously. "What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing, I…" Zack began to explain, turning again to look over the market. "I thought I heard something."

"Well, we gotta get moving," Ava urged and he nodded.

As Cloud was being dragged away back to the truck, he could see Zack as he took the last steps out of the market square, his back to him. _No, Zack you idiot! _he cried out in his own head in despair.


	32. Chapter 32

_Hey everyone! Well I'm not sure what's been happening with the alert system. I tried to send you all private messages to let you know the last update was up but I'm not sure even those went through. Whatever it is that's going on, I think it's slowly being worked out because I'm starting to get your reviews in for Chapter 31 though they're coming in **extremely** slow lol. So I WILL reply but it will just take a little while. On the chance you start reading this and have no idea what's going on it's probably because you didn't recieve the alert that Chapter 31 was up. So that should help haha! Anyway, here's Chapter 32. Enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: No own FFVII._

Chapter XXXII

One thing Getts didn't make was idle threats. When they returned back to the hotel that evening, he gave Cloud a beating he wouldn't soon forget. He beat him unconscious and then forced him to clean his own dried blood from the floor when he finally regained consciousness. Cloud may have cried if he thought himself capable of it. He felt dried out of emotions. He'd shed a few angry tears the day before when he was dragged to the truck after seeing Zack. That, to him, had felt like his last hope. He was angry at Zack for not seeing him and angry at himself because he wasn't positive he hadn't just imagined Zack being there. He was borderline desperate to see his friend after all.

_What if this hell never ends? What if Hojo leaves us in simulation forever? _he pondered sadly. It was worse than death, because he _couldn't _die. It took weeks for him to recover fully from the damage Getts had inflicted on him and he hadn't uttered a word since. He was left also with some permanent damage. His one hip was constantly aching, making it painful to walk, which he did from then on with a limp. He also gathered that he must have had a broken jaw and it hadn't healed properly so it clicked and cracked whenever he was chewing food. He didn't really care. It was only in his mind anyway.

One good thing came out of the whole ordeal. Any semblance of fear he had felt around Getts was gone. In fact, the only reason he hadn't kicked the man's ass already and taken off was because he wasn't being forced to do anything like what he'd been made to do when he was with the Brothers. He didn't feel it was worth the risk running off and getting rounded up by traders with something like that in mind.

Still, things were far from comfortable and he had been waiting for the day when he would explode and earn himself another gruesome beating. When that day came, he and a few of the other boys had been given the job of re-painting the outside of the building. One of the boys had knocked over a can of paint and Getts was furious. In Cloud's mind, he went overboard with the punishment. It was clear he was taking whatever other frustrations he had had already out on the kid. While Cloud knew he, himself, was unlikely to be killed by one of Getts' rounds of abuse, he couldn't say the same for the other boys and by the looks of it Getts was going to find himself down one boy if he kept going.

Acting purely on impulse and adrenaline, Cloud dropped the brush in his hand and headed toward Getts. He drew his leg up and kicked the man hard from behind, knocking him over his victim. Getts looked up from where he was on the ground, a look of shock etched into his face. It turned to an expression of deep explosive fury quickly enough though.

"You little bastard!" he growled as he pulled himself up and lunged at Cloud. "You need to learn your place!" he added as he clutched Cloud's neck and squeezed tightly. The fact that Cloud's face seemed devoid of fear seemed to anger him even more. He released Cloud's neck to throw a blow into his gut, watching with satisfaction as it had him doubling in pain. He threw a fist into the side of Cloud's face, knocking him to the ground where he kicked him hard in the side. Cloud did his best to stay quiet through the beating, even as his heavy-handed master took a whip to him but it was too much for him. He let out a few short gasping cries as he bent over the ground, holding his arms over his head to protect it, the whip lashing at his back and the exposed skin on his forearms. The lacing, fiery pain was intense and similar to what the croppings in Hojo's Hanger had felt like. But this was fiercer. He could feel the whip slicing into his skin, drawing out blood. He could see specks of it flying when he dared to open his eyes. He felt light-headed suddenly, like he was going to pass out if the beating didn't stop immediately.

Suddenly, it did. Over the heaving thudding of his pulse in his ears, he could just barely make out some sort of commotion. He lowered his arms slowly, opening his eyes to see his forearms and backs of his hands etched in bloody lines. A hand clutched his shoulder then and he hissed in a painful breath in response. Someone crouched in front of him but he didn't look up until two strong hands were grasping the sides of his head and tilting it up slightly. Only then did he realize he knew the person in front of him. Violet-blue eyes shined brightly with happiness that was masking deep concern. "You okay, Spike?" his familiar friend questioned.

"_Zack_," Cloud spoke his name in a mix of surprise and awe. "How did you—" he began to question but was cut off.

"Sorry I'm such a slow-ass sometimes, kid. Took me awhile to track you down from that market," Zack explained with a bright smile.

"The market? So you heard me call your name?!"

"I did. Didn't really believe it at first which is why I'm just showing up now." He laughed nervously. He inspected Cloud's arms then, his brow creasing in what Cloud recognized to be guilt. "Come on, Spike, let's go get you fixed up," he suggested then before rising and helping Cloud to a stand.

"What's the point? Couldn't bleed to death in this simulation if I tried," Cloud responded grimly as he limped along next to Zack.

"Yeah well, I don't want to keep seeing you look like a horror movie prop so tough," Zack argued.

Cloud glanced down to see Getts lying on the ground. The bloodied whip was wrapped tightly around his neck. It was difficult to be sure if he were just simply unconscious. Knowing Zack when he got angry, it was unlikely. Zack knew. He had pulled on that whip around the bastard's neck with all his strength until he heard the sick sound of a crunch as his neck was crushed. It's what he had intended from the moment he spotted Cloud on the ground with the bulking man standing over him and striking lines furiously into him with the braided leather in his hand. He wasn't going to make the mistake of assuming Cloud to be another part of the simulation.

"You look fabulous kid, like you had a run in with a blender or something," Zack remarked as he sat Cloud down outside at the back of a restaurant. The backdoor opened then and a girl stepped out. She passed off a first aid kid and a bottle of water to him.

"I'm Ava," she introduced herself then. Cloud gave his name in return and she nodded before turning back to Zack. "I'll be with the others out front," she said before departing.

"Let's get this off first," Zack spoke then, turning his attention back to Cloud and pulling at his torn shirt.

"I convinced myself I never saw you in the market," Cloud uttered quietly as Zack was looking over his back.

"Yeah. Took me a few days to convince myself I hadn't imagined hearing you shout my name," Zack replied slowly as he opened the bottle of water Ava had handed him and poured some of it over the wounds on Cloud's arms, washing away the blood and dirt. "By then we were out of state."

"Out of state?" Cloud questioned. "You heading somewhere—" he paused to hiss in a breath in response to the pain in right arm as Zack rubbed at some of the cuts. He threw Cloud an apologetic look. "Somewhere in particular?" Cloud finished.

"Dapple State," Zack replied.

"What's in Dapple State?"

"A head office for Shinra," Zack answered simply then noticed Cloud's deep questioning glare. "I ran into Ava in this one town. The place was dead 'cept for her and a few others. She claimed it was some plague spread through the water and that when it was over Turks arrived to take care of survivors."

"Turks?" Cloud questioned, his eyes sparking with surprise.

"If Shinra was behind it all, I want to know why," Zack added. He began applying antiseptic to Cloud's wounds.

"But Zack. This isn't real, none of it even exists," Cloud pointed out.

Zack sighed. "I know. But think about it, Spike. Hojo didn't just come up with some alternate universe all on his own. I mean, I guess he could have but it seems unlikely. What if there really is something like this happening somewhere? My whole life has been invested in Shinra. If there's any reality to this fucked up simulation at all I want to know." Cloud took a deep, accepting breath and nodded. "So. You been with that fat freakshow this entire simulation?" Zack questioned then as he applied more antiseptic to a few spots on his friend's back where the whip had got through the fabric of his shirt.

Cloud thought back to the beginning. He started out as a prisoner of war in some town. He had killed his way out of that one, taking the lives of seven soldiers in his escape. Then there was the desert. The scorching heat, endless thirst, slave traders, and finally, the Brothers. Mr. L's smooth voice cut through his ears. _I want you to do something for me…_Cloud shook the memories away lightly. He did something he knew he was going to eventually be good at doing. He lied. "Yeah. The whole time," he answered Zack quietly.

Zack paused his first aid on his friend for a moment, a hand on the back of Cloud's neck. "I'm glad a found ya, Spikey. From this moment, I ain't letting you outta my sight. Not even if you have to pee." He went for a roll of bandages then. Cloud scoffed and shook his head lightly. He felt the first semblance of a smile he'd experienced in a long time come across his face.

000

"She's pretty, ain't she?" Zack spoke as he nudged Cloud's side. They were trailing behind the others a few yards. It was Cloud's fault somewhat. He was annoyed to realize he had a hard time keeping up at normal pace with everyone else due to his aching hip that had him limping like an old man. Zack hadn't bothered to question it. He knew it would have been caused by Getts.

"Sure," Cloud agreed as he directed his eyes to Ava. "You do realize she's not real though, right?"

Zack laughed lightly. "Yeah, but she sure makes you appreciate the simulated world."

"What about Aeris?"

The smile fell from Zack's face then. "What about her?"

"I dunno. Though you had a thing for her."

"Yeah. Well. Things can change I guess," Zack muttered as he kicked a stone from his path.

"So you _don't _have a thing for her _anymore_?" Cloud clarified.

It was a moment before Zack answered. "I…I dunno. I guess you just can't expect a person to wait for you forever," he explained awkwardly. He looked at Cloud then and realized that probably isn't what he should have said. "Though, don't get me wrong, kid, I'm sure Tifa—"

"Tifa?" Cloud cut him off.

"Yeah. You know. Chick from your hometown. Long dark hair. Nice rack," Zack joked.

"Jerk," Cloud commented with a smirk. "We were just friends, Zack. There's nothing for her to wait for."

"Sure buddy," Zack said as he pushed Cloud playfully.

000

It took a few days to reach Dapple State. They had arrived late and had decided to rest for the night at the first inn they ran into. Cloud had passed out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow under his head. Zack, on the other hand, was restless. He observed his friend from his own bed, lying on his side with his head propped up on his hand. Though he hadn't let on, he knew from the moment he found Cloud, he was different. He also knew Cloud had lied when asked if he had been with Getts the entire simulation. It hurt him deeply that Cloud felt he needed to hide the truth from him. It also made him suspect that whatever he had gone through before then had been bad. He could have pushed him to give him the truth, but something inside him told him he shouldn't, for Cloud's sake. So he pretended to be ignorant. As for the previous simulations, he was afraid to ask. All he knew was that Cloud had began in this hell as little more than a kid and he had grown into something else, though not yet a young man in Zack's eyes. A person with an adolescence that never was.

Eerily, Cloud seemed devoid of fear. But in a bad way. He suspected the fear had been literally beaten from him and had ripped away hope with it.

Sometime through the night, Zack had finally fallen asleep. Sometime later, Cloud woke with a start. He was covered in sweat and breathing hard. Pulling himself up on his elbows he looked over at Zack. He was sleeping soundlessly, his one arm hanging over the side of the mattress. Pulling the covers off himself fast, he got out of bed and headed into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. Without even shedding his clothes, he stepped into the bath tub and turned on the shower. He stood for a few minutes as the hot water soaked his body, beating at his bruised and wounded shoulders to the point at which the pain was almost unbearable. His nightmares were fresh behind his eyes, dirtying him from the inside out and before he was even aware of it he was sobbing and sinking to his knees.

Zack was pulled out of his light slumber by the sound of water running. He forced his heavy eyelids open to check on Cloud but his gaze fell upon an empty bed. Becoming alert instantly, he sat up and looked across the room to the bathroom door. A bit of light was showing from the crack under the door. Taking a glance at the clock on the bedside table, he read the time. 4:20 a.m. Slowly, he dragged himself from the bed and moved to the bathroom. He knocked lightly and waiting for a response from Cloud. "Spikey?" he called through the door when he heard nothing. Again there was no response. He turned the doorknob then, checking to see if it was locked. Seeing as it wasn't, he pushed the door open slowly and peered inside the room. The shower curtain was drawn half-way. The only part of Cloud he could see was the lower part of his legs, stretched out on the bottom of the tub.

Zack was struck with sudden fear as he stepped forward fast and grabbed the curtain, drawing it open the rest of the way. A deep exhale of relief fell from him when he saw that Cloud was okay. In the shallowest sense of the word of course. He was sitting there silently with his back against the end of the tub as the water from the shower pelted him from above. Zack realized then that he must have been sitting there for quite a while. The hot water had long run out and left only cold as its substitute. The edges of Cloud's lips had taken on a bluish tinge from the long exposure. Quickly, Zack turned off the water and reached for a towel, dropping to his knees and throwing it around Cloud's shoulders. "Jesus, Spike, what are you doing?" he questioned, pushing some of the hair clinging to his forehead from his eyes.

Cloud said nothing for a few long moments. Just sat there silently as Zack patted him down with another towel and rubbed his arms trying to get heat back into them. "I killed a lot of people in these simulations," he spoke at last, his voice quivering a little. Zack stared at him hard.

"They weren't real people, Cloud," he pointed out sternly.

"It felt real," Cloud retorted softly. "I had a dream about one of them."

Zack sighed, sitting down on the floor and resting his one arm on the side of the tub. "You can't let this get to you, Spike. It'll eat you up inside," he advised. Cloud looked at him.

"How many people have you killed, Zack? In the real world," he questioned.

Zack lowered his eyes as he thought about it. "I don't really know," he responded after a moment. "Twenty or so, maybe more. Some may have died later I suppose from injuries inflicted or blood loss…It's not something I really let myself think about. That's just what happens when you're a SOLDIER."

"You don't ever feel guilty?" Cloud asked weakly.

Zack thought back. It took a moment for him to let the memories back in. "Um. Well one time, when I had just been promoted to second class, I was on a mission with several other second and first classes. We were supposed to bring down the headquarters of a large crime syndicate and its satellite offices simultaneously. I had been assigned to the headquarters along with some others. We took out the guards and planted a bomb. The next morning the reports came in. We were successful and the syndicate was crushed. What I was never aware of until then was that the headquarters was also the crime lord's family home. His wife and three young children were also killed in the explosion that killed him."

Cloud watched Zack intensely as he continued. "I had a lot of nightmares after finding that out," he went on. "I had to be removed from duty for a few weeks because I couldn't concentrate properly on missions."

"How'd you get over it?" Cloud questioned.

"Angeal told me that everyone begins life with a set path and it doesn't end with life. If the forces outside life didn't will our actions, we wouldn't make them."

"And you believe that?"

"I'm not sure what I believe. But it made me feel better at least."

Cloud grew silent once again. Zack sighed and pushed himself up from the floor. "Come on, kid, let's get you dried off and warm before you get sick," he suggested then, grabbing Cloud's one arm. He helped him out of the tub and had him strip down. There was no alternate clothing for him to change into so he got back into his bed wearing a towel. He slept for a few hours more while Zack watched him silently. In the back of his mind he had the awful suspicion that now that he and Cloud had finally found each other again, Hojo was going to find a way to wrench them apart once more. It was a crushing thought.

Later that morning, Zack, Cloud, and Ava headed toward the Shinra office building. Zack charmed his way into an archives office and to all of their surprise his officer ID and passcode were valid enough to get them access to the archival data. Zack knew there was no way he would come across a file that said _How Shinra Killed the Town of Patrick_ but he was able to locate the names of the Turks responsible for 'clean-up' and came across an odd, restricted file folder labeled _Project P_. Unfortunately, that's all the answers they got out of the Shinra building. They needed an actual person to talk to. Again, Zack sweet talked the name and address of a programs coordinator out of one of the secretaries on their way out.

They found themselves outside a gate, staring through at the rich house it protected. Zack motioned for Cloud and Ava to follow him around to the back of the property. He took a run at the ten foot wall, straddling it and reaching down to help Ava up and over first. Cloud made a pathetic first attempt at grabbing for Zack's hand. "Come on, ya girl!" Zack called down to him.

"Fuck you," Cloud muttered as he made a second grab and succeeded that time. They both jumped to the ground and headed for the house. Zack picked the lock on the door and opened it slowly, peering into the room.

"You got your crossbow ready?" Zack questioned Ava.

"You know it," she responded firmly.

Entering the house quietly, the three of them edged their way down to the study where the soft glow of a light was being emitted. Zack paused a moment outside the door before kicking it open and taking the man inside by surprise. His hand went for the phone at his desk instantly but he stopped when he saw Ava aiming her crossbow at him. "Who are you?" he demanded to know, his face red with anger.

"Dr. Curts?" Zack asked.

"Yes, who the hell are you?"

Zack rounded his desk fast and threw a hit into his sternum before shoving him back down in his desk chair. "Take a seat."

"Wha-what do you people want?" the middle-aged man struggled to speak between gasps for air.

"What's _Project P_?" Zack asked

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Zack threw the man's head at the desk and held it firmly. "Okay, we'll try a different one. Why is Shinra wiping out towns of people?" Curts didn't answer. Zack pulled the man's head back and slammed it on the desk again. "WHY?" he shouted into his ear.

"It was a cover-up!" the man finally responded.

"A cover-up for what?" Ava spoke up from nearby.

"I don't know, I swear, that's all I know!" the man shouted frantically.

"You're lying!"

Cloud heard the sound of approaching steps then. He saw the barrel of gun edging around the doorway. When the hand holding onto the gun appeared he grabbed for it and slammed the hand against the door frame. One hand on the gun, and another reaching around for the person's arm, he swung whoever it was onto the floor and delivered a punch to their neck. Cloud grabbed for the gun and kicked the man unconscious.

"Drop it!" a voice demanded from behind Cloud. He felt a gun pressing against the back of his head.

"Yeah sure," Cloud replied as he held his hand out. As he let the gun fall from his grip he dropped and turned, punching the man in his kidney then rising and grabbing for his gun, snapping his wrist in the process. Now holding the man's gun, Cloud fired and sent him stumbling back before falling to the floor. He ducked then suddenly as another shot was fired. It wasn't from Cloud though. The bullet wizzed by Zack and implanted itself in the wall nearby.

"BE CAREFUL YOU IDIOT, I'M IN HERE TOO!" Curts yelled out to his security guard that had fired. Zack saw Cloud reach for the other gun on the floor. With one in each hand he fired on the guard. There was silence then.

"I think it's time we bailed," Ava spoke nervously. Zack nodded. Cloud rose to his feet again, turning back to the others. A creak on one of the floorboards had him pivoting back fast, ready to fire. His fingers were already beginning to squeeze the triggers when he found himself aiming at a boy, probably no older than 12 or 13. The boy looked stunned.

"Papa?" he questioned shakily.

"Jack! No! Don't shoot my son, please!" Curts pleaded.

"Tell us what we want to know!" Zack shouted at him.

"I don't know anything, I swear!"

The boy was staring into Cloud's eyes. Though he did look scared, there was something else there. Anger maybe?

"Please, leave my family out of this!" Curts continued to beg.

"Fine," Zack agreed.

"Jack! Get out of here!" Curts demanded. The kid hesitated before heading off hurriedly.

"Let's just go, Zack!" Ava said then. "The guy knows nothing."

"Fine, out that window," Zack said as he pointed to the large window on the left wall of the office. Ava opened the window and popped the screen out. Zack headed over next to her. Just then, Curts pulled a gun from under his desk. Ava yelled but it was too late, or it would have been had Cloud not fired on the man. The force threw him back against his chair and his body slumped down into it as blood seeped from the wound. Zack looked at his friend, taking note of his stony expression. "Come on!" he shouted as he nudged Ava and helped her through the window. Cloud was watching to make sure no one else ambushed them. "Let's go, Spike!" Zack called to him as he slipped through the window after Ava. Dropping one of the guns, Cloud moved to the window. He was about to climb through when out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. He raised the gun he still had and pointed toward the doorway ready to fire but held off fast when he saw the boy again.

The boy's eyes were on his father's lifeless form. They filled with tears instantly and turned to Cloud. Cloud lowered the gun as he stared back at him. "I'm sorry." The words left him before he could contemplate them. He lowered his head and grabbed for the window frame, preparing to exit. He swore he felt it before he heard it. The bullet hitting him in his back, just under his right shoulder blade.

"Cloud?" Zack called from outside. He watched his friend fall to his knees at the window then. There were another two shots fired then and Cloud's body shook before he fell forward onto the window sill, his arms gripping for it. Cloud could hear the clicking of a gun trying to fire with an empty cartridge from behind him and the sounds of sobbing. In a way, he was proud of the boy. It's what any son would do having just found his father murdered. Zack was in front of him then, just outside the window, grabbing his arms, keeping him from sinking from the windowsill to the floor. "Spike!" he spoke his name with a tone deeply shadowed in panic and fear. Cloud could only manage a short groan in response before coughing a little on the blood filling his lungs. Some of it had already found its way to his mouth, dripping out over his lower lip. "No, Spike, not now!" Zack yelled at him angrily, wrenching at his arms and somehow managing to drag him through the window and onto the grass.

"What happened?!" Ava cried out as she was running toward them.

"We gotta go!" Zack ignored her question and picked Cloud up, hauling him over his shoulder and running for the wall. No doubt authorities were on their way. Propping Cloud against the wall momentarily, Zack helped Ava up onto the wall then crouched in front of his friend. Cloud had almost forgotten what it felt like to be shot. It was almost worse than some of the torture he'd experienced at Hojo's hands in the lab. He struggled to breathe past all the blood built up in his chest and throat, urging himself to stay awake. He didn't know if he should be scared or not. He couldn't die. And even if he did, it wasn't real death. But he didn't want to wake up in some other simulation, apart from Zack once again. What new horrors would await him? His fear was sparked.

"Come on, buddy, I need you to stay with me," Zack urged then. He pulled Cloud up and somehow managed enough strength to lift him high enough that Ava was able to grab Cloud's hand. It was a hard time trying to get him up over the wall but they managed. They moved quickly into the cover of the trees nearby and soon they had made their way into a park. Zack laid Cloud on one of the picnic tables, tearing the back of his shirt to expose his wounds. "I can get the bullets, I just need a…your hair pin!" Ava didn't question it, she removed the large pin from her hair and handed it to Zack. "Keep still, Spikey," Zack instructed Cloud before digging the pin into the first wound. Cloud groaned loudly but managed to stay still until the bullets were removed.

Cloud felt his mind growing hazy. He reached out, looking for something to grip to ground himself. Zack grabbed his hand. His face appeared then. "Hey, you said you couldn't bleed to death if you tried, remember? You gonna make a liar out of yourself?" he joked lightly. Cloud's response was a small smile that erupted into more blood running from his mouth. He let his eyes close, shutting Zack out of his sight, praying that when he opened them again he'd still be there.

He wasn't exactly sure the moment that it happened, but amidst the pain and ringing in his ears, he became aware that something had changed. He noticed immediately that he was choking on something, but it wasn't blood. There was something pressed far into his throat, irritating his gag reflex. He began coughing roughly, his body trying to rid itself of the sensation but it wouldn't pass until whatever it was that was shoved into his airway was pulled out slowly. He took a deep heave of a breath as he reached out with his arms blindly. Hands came down on his arms and held them down. He began feeling panicked, not knowing what was happening.

What he felt next was the sensation of something moving over his head. Light invaded his eyes and it stung painfully despite the light being rather low. He squinted against it to make out the blurry shapes moving around over him. _White coats_. They were the first thing he recognized. _What's going on?_ he questioned frantically in his mind. _Is this another simulation?_ Something inside him told him it wasn't but he didn't know if he should believe it. He had experienced simulations of Hojo's lab before. The difference now, however, was that he couldn't see anything clearly. Everything seemed fuzzy and haloed.

Hands reached for him then, grasping his arms and legs and hauling him up. He was placed on something soft. A moment later the ground was moving beneath him. _A gurney_. He realized as he was being wheeled off that he was shivering badly against the chill air. He felt so weak. It was hard for him to keep his thoughts centered, to keep them from drifting. He was just so tired…

When the movement ceased, he looked through the haze before him, trying to identify where he was. It was actually the smell that gave him his answer. The overly-sterile smell of antiseptic and soap told him he was in the med-sector of the Shinra Mansion's basement.


	33. Chapter 33

_Hey y'all! I think I'm imagining it's been longer since I've updated than it has been. But yeah, anyway, sorry for the wait. I know I left the last chapter at a bit of a cliff-hanger. This chapter is shorter than the last few. Sorry 'bout that also lol. I've been incredibly busy. Gah! Why can't life understand that fanfics are more important than work haha! Anyway, Chapter 34 will probably be out in a few days as well because I've actually got time to write again. Happy dance._

_Cheers guys!_

_Disclaimer: FFVII not mine. _

Chapter XXXIII

"OW!" Zack exclaimed after what seemed like the hundredth needle in an hour was inserted into his arm. "How many more fucking times are you gonna do that?" he questioned the medical assistant standing next to him.

"Last one," he muttered before removing the needle and stepping away. After hours of being examined, Zack was pretty sure he was back in the real world. He had his doubts though. Things seemed different somehow. There were many people he didn't recognize. It occurred to him that perhaps he and Cloud had been in 'storage' for longer than he thought. He scanned the room. His eyes found a small calendar on the wall over the one counter. It was too small to make out from where he was seated on the exam table so he slipped down to the floor uneasily, making sure he still had a firm grip on the table as his feet touched tile. His muscles felt incredibly weak. His body shook as he struggled to make it to the counter, gripping onto whatever he could lean against to get there. Leaning against the countertop, he stared at the calendar. _April_. _It's only been a little while_, he thought to himself. His eyes travelled to the year then and his mouth fell open.

"No fucking way," he breathed as his eyes stayed locked on the year. According to the calendar, he and Cloud had been lying somewhere in simulation for over two years. Zack's knees gave out under him and he held onto the counter fast, keeping himself from collapsing. "This has to be a joke," he decided. No way could it have been two years. Out of habit, proceeded to run a hand through his hair only to remember that one of the first things the medical personnel had done when he was brought to the med sector was shave his hair off. He gathered it was to make some of the tests on his head easier. He wasn't too depressed about it. Though he preferred hair, it was beyond too long at that point.

"Your examination is complete, you'll be taken to your room," the med assistant spoke to him then. Yet another new-faced goon appeared to take him away. When he stepped into the cell he immediately noticed three things. One was that there was actual bedding—well compared to nothing. Second there were two sets, sparking an instant hope that that meant Cloud and he were going to be sharing the cell. There were two mattress pads, two blankets, and two pillows. Actual pillows! _Why the niceties?_ Zack wondered. That brought him to the third thing he noticed. Cameras. They were in every corner of the room. It was an eerie sight.

Feeling exhausted, and without anything to occupy himself, eventually he lay himself down on the one mattress on his back and rested his hands behind his head. All that kept racing through his mind was the idea that it had been three years since being snatched from the world. It had happened so fast and yet had been such a long horrible journey at the same time. All his friends and family on the outside. They were three years older. Hell, _he _was three years older! He was a true adult now. And he didn't feel anywhere close to it. He grew angry the more he thought about it. To Hojo, three years was probably nothing. He'd had projects he'd worked on his whole life. But to him, and no doubt Cloud, three years was a big chunk of their lives. Zack wasn't just angry at Hojo, he was angry at himself. They were never supposed to be there this long. He was supposed to have gotten them out. He'd failed his best friend, and himself.

About an hour after Zack left in the cell alone, the door opened and Cloud was dropped off. He hardly looked like Zack remembered. He was taller, his torso a bit broader and he seemed leaner, if that was possible. He was already pathetically skinny last time he saw him. But now parts of him like his face has had lost their juvenile look. Normally, his hair would have immediately given him away but without those bright blond spikes, he was someone else completely.

Without the support of the goon next to him, his atrophied muscles were too weak to hold him up and he dropped to the floor on his elbows and knees. Zack struggled to get his body to move toward him. "Spike," he called to his friend as he approached. He grabbed him when he was within reach and hugged him tightly. "Oh man, it's so good to see you not shot up," he spoke as he thought of the final moments they'd spent in the simulation. Cloud started to laugh. "Well I didn't think it was funny, but sure!" He gripped Cloud's shoulders and pulled him back from him a little to look at him.

"Please tell me this is real," Cloud said shakily. His eyes were gleaming as tears started to build-up.

"Well if it ain't then it's one lame-ass simulation," Zack joked. Cloud's tears found there way out and he broke almost into a half-sobbing laugh. Zack observed him with concern.

"Uh…you're kinda freakin' me out here, Spike…" he spoke uneasily.

"Sorry. I just thought because I could see again, that it couldn't be real—" Cloud began to explain. He was cut-off by Zack.

"You can?!" he questioned as he jerked Cloud by his shoulders

Cloud nodded. "Not one hundred percent clearly but…yeah."

"Spikey, that's great!" Zack exclaimed before pulling him back in for another crushing embrace.

"Gotta say though, Zack," Cloud's voice was muffled a little by Zack's shirt "you look friggin' weird without hair."

"Well speak for yourself there, baldy," Zack retorted as he let go of his friend finally. Cloud ran a hand over the mere centimeter of fuzz covering his scalp. It was an odd feeling.

"I can't believe Hojo put us in together," he remarked then.

"I think it may have something to do with those," Zack suggested as he pointed to a camera in one of the corners of the room. Cloud squinted hard in the direction Zack's finger pointed. He couldn't make out anything in the corner of the room. Though he wasn't blind, he was a ways off from twenty-twenty vision. Things were still quite blurry. Even Zack was a little blurred though he was right in front of him.

"What is it?" he questioned, shaking his head lightly.

"Camera. There's one in every corner," Zack explained.

"Creepy," Cloud muttered. He placed his one palm on the cold tile, trying to steady his shaking arm. "Do you feel as weak as I do?" he questioned after a moment.

"Yeah, it sucks," Zack said with a nod.

"But why though? I mean, how long were we out?"

Zack hesitated. He didn't know if he should tell Cloud what he knew. _Well actually, Spike, we've been lying in a coma-like state for over two years! Ain't that great! Yeah right_, he thought. Still, could he really lie about something like that? Cloud's eyes were focused on him intently. Exhaling slowly, he shook his head and uttered a quiet "I'm not really sure."

The truth was, it hadn't been two years in the simulations. The simulations only accounted for maybe six or eight months. That would mean they had been 'asleep' the rest of the time. Zack couldn't help but wonder if other things had been done to them while they were in forced slumber. It made him re-evaluate his scars, seeing if he could account for each one. An impossible task of course.

"Man…I'm so tired," Cloud broke the momentary silence. He began dragging himself across the floor to the nearby mattress pad, pulling himself onto it, not even bothering to try and deal with the blanket. Zack did the same. He lay on his side and watched his friend for a few minutes. Watching his back rise and fall as he breathed. It was only minutes before he could tell Cloud had fallen asleep. He couldn't blame him. As much as Zack wanted to stay awake after sleeping for what seemed like forever, simple motions and movements took so much energy. He felt like he had run a marathon. A few more minutes passed before he allowed himself to sink into sleep.

000

BANG!

The shot rang out and Zack turned fast. Cloud was dropping to his knees, gripping the frame on the window he'd just come from. Blood began dribbling from his mouth. Zack tried to reach him but ever step he took seemed to push Cloud further away. He shouted to him but it was useless. Cloud lost his grip on the window then, falling out of sight.

"NO!" Zack screamed out.

His eyes flew open and he found himself staring at a white ceiling.

"Zack," a voice spoke from nearby. He turned his head fast and saw Cloud staring at him from his mattress. Concern was shadowing his features.

"What's up?" Zack questioned as he wiped some sweat from his forehead, realizing then he'd just been dreaming.

"You okay?" his friend asked.

"Yeah, fine, why?" Zack responded slowly. He knew from Cloud's reaction, he must have been making some sort of scene while dreaming.

"You were kinda freaking out in your sleep," Cloud spoke uneasily.

"Yeah, no worries, just a bad dream." Zack tried to be casual about it. Cloud frowned but never got a chance to speak another word about it before the sound of the door opening drew his and Zack's attention.

A familiar and, in many ways, friendly face appeared.

"Syrus! You're still here!" Zack exclaimed upon seeing the goon. He looked just as Zack remembered him. Cloud struggled to pull himself up into a sitting position to greet the man who he could just barely make out at the door.

"Psh, Shinra owns me, I'll probably never leave," Syrus replied semi-sarcastically. "But I'm part security now," he added.

"Security?" Cloud questioned. Syrus pointed to one of the cameras.

"Oh, so you're one of the people who will be watching us sleep?" Zack asked. Syrus nodded before stepping into the hall again momentarily. He pulled a cart into the room. On top were some other familiar things. Paper cups and plastic bowls.

"Long time, no see, kid," Syrus spoke to Cloud as he handed him a cup of vitamins and another of water.

"How long's it been exactly?" Cloud questioned before downing the pills.

"You don't know?" the goon asked in mild surprise as he handed Zack his vitamins. Cloud shook his head. Zack's stomach sank as he prepared for Cloud's reaction. "About 26 months," Syrus revealed finally.

At first, Cloud seemed to have no reaction. He just stared. But then, whatever colour was in his pale complexion drained. "26 months?" he mumbled almost incoherently. Zack flashed Syrus an irritated glance before turning back to his friend.

"Spike," he began hesitantly, not sure of what to say. "It's not all that long, when you really think about it…" Cloud shot an incredulous look towards him.

"Are you fucking serious, Zack?" he blurted loudly. Zack lowered his gaze feeling instantly guilty. He had promised Cloud a long time ago he'd get them out and he hadn't. "You knew…didn't you?" Cloud questioned then. Zack winced before giving in and nodding slightly.

Zack turned his attention to Syrus then, not wanting to fight with Cloud at that moment in time. He motioned for Syrus to come towards him before asking in a low tone if the cameras had microphones on them.

"No," Syrus answered. "And the only part of the room that isn't monitored is the washroom. Just so you know," he added with a slight grin. He left after giving Zack and Cloud bowls of what looked like plain broth. Left alone once again, Zack turned his attention back to Cloud.

"Why didn't you just tell me, Zack?" Cloud questioned then, his tone a mix of hurt and anger.

"Because I was freaked out when _I _found out and I didn't think it was important for you to know right now," Zack explained honestly.

"And you suddenly think it's up to you to decide what I should and shouldn't know?" Cloud shot back at him.

"Look, I only just found out myself. I'm having a hard time coming to grips with it. I just—"

"You just thought that if it was hard for _you_ to deal with then I couldn't possibly handle it right?" Cloud cut him off before he could finish. Zack shook his head in defeat. There was no possible way to make Cloud understand his point of view. He was too upset. Suddenly, Cloud spoke in a trembling, quieter tone. "Well maybe you're right," he said as he was clearly trying to hold back breaking down. Zack looked over at him once again, a little surprised at his friend's sudden change in emotions.

"No, Spike, that's not what I think. I _know_ you can handle things like that. I just don't like to see you have to," Zack spoke sadly. Cloud covered his eyes with his one hand and slumped back against the wall behind him.

"Why are we here, Zack?" he spoke brokenly. "It's been three years and look what we've become. So much has happened and so much more that hasn't. I just wanted to be a SOLDIER."

Zack didn't know what to say. He had just been so happy to be out of the simulations and be with his friend again. But it was like exchanging one prison for another. He wanted to be able to reassure Cloud but what could he say? _I promise, we'll get out_? That declaration had clearly been worn out. He couldn't even promise Cloud would have the life he always wanted one day. There was no way he'd ever be a SOLDIER. That dream had been shattered with the realization of just how corrupt Shinra really was. Zack had never been the hopeless type and he refused to become that way now. He swore to himself that even if he died in the process, he would set things right.

000

It had been a quiet night. Both Zack and Cloud had slept nearly straight through with only a few stirrings. They were both exhausted and felt little change in the morning. They were brought down to the lab to face Hojo for the first time in the apparent two years. The years showed on the professor. More deep lines were visible on the leathery skin of his face. There were some graying hairs beginning in his scalp. He looked a little worse for wear. Whatever business he had been attending to in Midgar for the past few years must have been draining for him. But for all the wear, his black eyes still shone eerily upon seeing Zack and Cloud. He smiled smugly at them, his hands clasped behind him.

"Good to see you again, Z1, C4," he greeted happily. Neither responded to him. "I apologize for the slight delay in our work," he added then.

"Slight delay?" Zack questioned. "You're an asshole," he spat at him. Hojo only grinned.

"We are going to begin Stage Two of the project," He explained, his eyes gleaming in excitement as he motioned for two of his assistants to come forward. Zack and Cloud's eyes were immediately fixed on the syringes they held in their hands. The liquid inside was green. Zack scoffed.

"Well if that's mako, then it looks like your Stage Two ain't very much different, you wacked out old bastard," he fired at the professor.

"Of course it's not mako, Z1, will you ever give me any credit?" Hojo questioned.

"Not fucking likely," Zack answered fast.

"No, my dear specimens, this is something entirely different," the professor explained. Zack and Cloud watched as each of the assistants approached them. The syringes were small. There was only a tiny amount of liquid in each. Cloud clenched his hands into fists, feeling his nails digging into this palms. He was thankful to even have nails. They had grown back over the time he and Zack were in 'storage.' He squinted to make out more clearly the place on his arm where the needle was being inserted, gritting his teeth against the stinging twinge of pain. "You are both very lucky," Hojo went on. "These injections contain the cells of the great Jenova herself."

"_What?!_" Zack blurted loudly. "Are you fucking out of your mind?! I mean, I know you're a nutcase, but Jenova cells? What could you possibly think is going to come out of this?"

"Oh Z1, you of all people should know. You worked alongside the ideal result."

"Sephiroth," Cloud uttered, barely audibly.

"Sephiroth?" Zack repeated then. "The 'ideal result'? Sephiroth was a good man until he learned of the shit you did to him. That fucking bitch, Jenova, drove him to insanity."

"Yes, well, Sephiroth was a little out of my control by then. That will not happen this time 'round," Hojo replied sharply.

Cloud was watching the spot on his arm where the injection had been made. He could see through his pale skin, the green liquid moving through his one vein. He thought of Sephiroth then, of his final moments in the reactor before his death. He'd been so inhuman, so cold. Nothing like the man Cloud had once admired. Is that what Hojo wanted them to be? Heartless, unbiased killers? It made him sick just thinking about it.

"Now, it's time you both got your strength back. The sooner that happens, the sooner we can progress with testing," Hojo mused. He waved for the goons to come collect Cloud and Zack. They were brought to a room filled with what resembled gym equipment. It became obvious early on that they were there to force their softened muscles to harden themselves once again. It was an incredibly painful process. Both boys cursed heartily through it. The difference between them, however, was that Zack seemed to be using anger as fuel. _The sooner I get my strength back, the sooner I can kick the shit out of Hojo given the chance_, he thought to himself.

Cloud wasn't really thinking like that. His thoughts were wrapped up in worries over Hojo's 'Stage Two' experimentations. He didn't really want to get strong, just to be used as some tool for chaos. No. He made up his mind right then he was going to rebel. He just didn't think of the potential consequences…


	34. Chapter 34

_Thank you so much for all your reviews on the last chapter guys! Read on and enjoy :)_

_Disclaimer: FFVII not mine. _

Chapter XXXIV

Cloud hit his knees for probably the tenth time in five minutes. "He isn't even trying!" one of Hojo's assistants said in clear annoyance. He pushed the goon out of the way who was standing behind Cloud. He had been repeatedly pulling Cloud to his feet so the assistants could watch him attempt to strengthen his leg muscles through walking with the aid of two bars on either side of a platform. Cloud refused to cooperate. Each time the goon let go of him he would sink to his knees bonelessly. The one now irritated assistant reached down to grab his arm roughly. Before he had a chance to do anything else, Cloud hauled off and punched him, knocking his glasses from his face. It wasn't the hardest punch in the world, but it still sent the assistant falling back. Zack had been watching from across the room. He laughed openly at Cloud's act of defiance.

The assistant got to his feet hastily, fixing his glasses back on his face. He grabbed a clipboard from one of the other assistants and used it to smack the back of Cloud's head. There was a loud THWAP. Cloud hunched a little in response before grinning at the assistant smugly.

"That's it! I'm calling Hojo," the assistant declared.

_Not good_, Zack thought to himself then. It was the second day they had been brought to that room for physical rehabilitation and it was the second day Cloud refused to do what he was expected. Zack didn't really agree with Cloud's choice but there wasn't anything he could do about it. Cloud had made it clear that this is what he wanted so he went along with it. But with the assistant now dialing away on his cellphone, eager to express his frustrations with Hojo, he knew nothing good was going to come of Cloud's protest.

It was only mere minutes before Hojo stormed into the room. It was difficult to tell if he was angry because of Cloud or because he had been disturbed by his assistant but, whatever the reason, he flew in like he was about to rampage. "Decided to be non-compliant have we, C4?" he questioned irately. Clearly, he wasn't expecting an answer from Cloud because he didn't give him time for one. "Bring him to the bench," he ordered and the goon behind Cloud reached down to haul him up. He dragged him over to the flat bench nearby. "Lay him down," Hojo demanded then picked up a long bar. He held it over Cloud's torso a moment before letting it fall. Reflexively, Cloud raised his hands and caught the bar, pressing resistance into it so it wouldn't result in heavy chest bruising when it hit him. "Forty on each side, go," Hojo instructed his assistants who snapped into action, attaching weights to either side of the bar.

"HEY!" Zack exclaimed then, rising from the leg press where he was seated. Immediately, he was restrained by one of the other goons. "What the hell are you doing?" he questioned loudly but Hojo ignored him.

"Whatever you're trying to do," Cloud struggled to speak through the increasing weight bearing down on his chest "it won't work."

"It will if you want to keep breathing," Hojo shot back at him. Cloud hissed out what was meant to be a dry laugh.

"You think death scares me?" he retorted. Hojo stared down at him angrily. "You won't kill me, and you won't kill Zack. So what are you gonna do? Separate us again? Throw me in one of your dungeon cells? Rip off my fingernails? You got nothin' you pathetic piece of shit."

Zack watched Hojo intensely. He seemed to be trembling he was so furious. He took a few steps around the bench, stopping at Cloud's head. He reached down suddenly, clamping his hands around the bar over Cloud's chest and pressing his weight down on it. Cloud choked on the air in his lungs. He automatically began pressing up on the bar, trying to rid himself of the crushing pressure. He gasped as he tried to take in a breath.

"You seem to forget just who is in control here, C4," Hojo fumed then. "You also seem to have forgotten how capable I am of bringing you pain." He pressed down harder as he said that, drawing a short whine from Cloud. Cloud glared back at him, beads of sweat rolling from his brow. He was too determined to give in. "Believe me, C4, I know just way to motivate you." Hojo's tone changed then. It was soft and eerie. "You remember that special simulation I created for you and Z1?" he asked. Cloud knew exactly what he was talking about. He remembered _that_ pain vividly. "I'm sure some of the guards wouldn't mind another encounter, perhaps outside the realm of simulation. It would be a shame for you if they should try to have their way with you while you're too weak to fight back…"

"You're _sick_." Cloud barely managed to get his words out. He felt his stomach twisting in dread and fear. Hojo chuckled.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get the results I want from you, C4."

With that said, he eased up on the bar over Cloud's chest and stepped back. He headed from the room, throwing Zack a self-satisfied glare. Zack tore out of the grip of the goon holding him and made his way over to Cloud just as he managed to push the weighted bar off of himself onto the floor. He coughed roughly.

"What did that son of a bitch say to you?" Zack asked with deep concern as he helped Cloud sit up.

He shook his head angrily. "It doesn't matter," he responded lowly. One of the assistants stepped up next to him.

"You gonna try now?" he questioned as he attempted to take Cloud's arm. Cloud jerked away from him fast.

"As long as you don't fucking touch me," he responded sharply.

Zack watched Cloud as he began to work his muscles. Clearly, Hojo had made one hell of a threat and he knew that no amount of his prodding was going to get Cloud to tell him what it was.

000

"Your chicken-flavoured water's getting cold, Spike," Zack spoke from where he was seated on his mattress in their shared cell. They had been returned there a little under an hour earlier.

"So?" Cloud questioned from where he lay on his own mattress. His voice was muffled from his pillow pressing into this face.

"So, aren't you gonna eat?"

"Too tired to eat," came his barely audible response.

"You're gonna get even skinnier if you don't eat and I'll just be able to kick your ass a lot easier," Zack taunted.

"You really think eating the poor excuse for food they give us is going to make a difference?" Cloud asked.

"You may have a point," Zack agreed as he set his own empty bowl down. There was silence for a moment before he spoke again. "You still mad about me not telling you I knew how long we were, ya know, out?"

Cloud inhaled sharply before turning his head in Zack's direction. "No. You were just doing what you thought was best," he said at last. "I hate it sometimes when you try to protect me, Zack. But I think sometimes I'd go crazy if I didn't have that."

Zack grinned. "Aw, Spikey, you're gonna make me blush!" he joked.

"Shuddup, I'm being serious," Cloud said as he tried to hold back grinning.

"Okay, okay, go ahead," Zack replied quick, neutralizing his expression and trying to keep a straight face.

"I've spent so much time trying to live up to you. But I don't think I ever could," Cloud spoke almost sadly.

"Look, Spike," Zack spoke seriously "you are an incredibly strong kid. You do not need to live up to anybody, especially me. You're a far better person than I'll ever be."

"You know you suck at being humble, Zack," Cloud teased.

"Yeah well, it's truth," Zack responded.

"I'm not a kid anymore, ya know," Cloud pointed out then.

"You'll always be one to me," Zack retorted. "Now eat your chicken water," he ordered. Cloud groaned in defiance before dragging himself up to do as he was told.

000

It was a few days more before Zack and Cloud could move around comfortably at their own wills. Their strength came back remarkably fast, which suggested the mako in their bodies had a hand in it. Hojo was intrigued of course, and ever eager to begin prodding at them. He came to the equipment room on their fifth day of physical rehab to observe their progress.

"Very nice," he mused as he clutched one of Zack's biceps, squeezing to feel the degree of firmness.

"Your not my type," Zack responded uncomfortably. Hojo paid him no attention as he turned to one of his assistants and nodded. The assistant moved next to Zack, wrapping a measuring tape around his one arm and dictating the inches to another of the assistants. He proceeded with his other arm before moving to his thigh. "You aren't gonna measure _everything _I hope. That could be a little awkward," he said lightly.

"Very funny, as always, Z1," Hojo spoke flatly. "Make a note, Joss, the specimens are lacking in body mass. That will need to be remedied." The assistant writing down Zack's measurements jotted down Hojo's note.

"You ever consider this new thing? It's called, uh FOOD?" Zack blurted. Hojo ignored him once again as he headed over to the rower where Cloud was.

"So nice to see you working toward your potential, C4," he spoke as he approached. Cloud clenched his jaw in instant loathing. "You're still far too weak however. You could take a few lessons from Z1," he continued. "I must say you're looking much better though since you were first brought here. No longer a pathetic child. A few more years here shall be good for you."

Cloud let go of the grips in his hands then and let the weights on the machine drop. They hit with a loud noise that echoed through the whole room. Hojo seemed a little surprised but also amused. He chuckled as he looked at Cloud's hate-filled expression. "I like to see you angry, C4, it's quite encouraging."

Cloud had to try not to attack the professor right then. He regretted it after Hojo had walked away. He had been so close to him. He could have really done some damage to him, maybe even killed him? _Not likely_, he thought critically. _The friggin goons woulda been on me too fast. _Still, he had to questions, what if?

Mere days later, he and Zack were being subjected to an all too familiar routine. They were undergoing fitness testing, battle testing, and now there were daily workouts in the equipment room. There had been no mako _yet_ and they were thankful. Neither questioned it, not even to each other. They both hoped it to be a thing of the past. They were also being fed more frequently. The food could barely be considered solid food. Most of the time it was something resembling stew or mush. They took what they could get. Both of them engaged themselves as much as possible in whatever they were being forced to do at the time. They focused on bettering themselves physically because it was all they seemed free to do. Eventually something had to happen to bring them new grief. It was inevitable.

It happened one day in the equipment room when something came loose on the frame of some of the strength training equipment. Cloud had been in the way when the top piece of the frame came down. It should have crushed him, broken his back or at least a few ribs but it didn't. News of it got back to Hojo quickly and his curiosity had Cloud dragged down to the lab. He had him stand at the exam table where he waited nervously for what was supposed to happen.

"Word is you're rather indestructible, C4," Hojo spoke, his tone shrouded in skepticism. "Naturally, something like this requires exploring. "Your arm on the table please," he ordered. Cloud stood still. A lab assistant grabbed for his left arm then, pulling it onto the table. He tried to back away but the goon at his back prevented it. Another assistant handed Hojo a metal-headed mallet. Cloud struggled harder then. It took three of the assistants, along with the goon to keep him in place so Hojo could swing the mallet hard toward his forearm. Pain erupted instantly, drawing a loud cry from him. He barely had a chance to draw another breath before the mallet came down again. It was followed closely by a third hit, and then a forth. He was choking back sobs by then, squeezing his eyes shut and gasping for a good breath.

His eyes flew open as Hojo grabbed for his arm, gripping it tight, squeezing and twisting as he examined it. Some of his skin had split from the force of the hits and was now freely bleeding. He knew what Hojo was looking for. A break. There should have been one. But just like in the equipment room, he remained break-free.

"Very interesting," Hojo muttered in awe. "This will require more testing, bring him back to the cell. I need to think."

The goon at Cloud's back gripped his upper arm and pulled him away from the table toward the door. He stumbled a few times out of shock. He was in deep confusion over what had just happened. His bones weren't breaking. What did that mean? Zack jumped up upon seeing Cloud, his eyes drawn instantly to his bloody and quickly bruising arm.

"Cloud! What the hell happened?" he questioned fast.

"I—I don't…" Cloud started to try and explain but he couldn't come up with the words.

"'Kay, c'mon, sit down," Zack instructed. Cloud complied slowly. Zack disappeared for a moment, returning with a cloth from the bathroom. He wrapped up Cloud's forearm tightly before asking Cloud again to explain.

"Something weird's happening to me, Zack, and it's probably happening to you too," he spoke slowly.

"What are you talking about?" Zack asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Hojo was trying to break my arm."

"Why the hell was he trying to do that?"

"Because of what happened in the equipment room. Because I should have broken something and I didn't."

"That was just a fluke, Spike," Zack insisted. "You were lucky is all."

"It happened before, Zack, remember? In the combat room?"

Zack was silent. "He said he wanted to do more tests…I don't think he'll let this go," Cloud said sadly, his tone aching with dread.

Cloud was right. Hojo was immersed in interest over this unforeseen feature of his specimens. It didn't take a genius to figure out it had something to do with the mako infusions. Still, Hojo would not be satisfied until he had all the scientific details. The following morning, he had Zack and Cloud brought to the lab, though he didn't have them brought together. Zack was brought down first. Right away he noticed an odd addition to the lab's equipment. A C-frame press.

"Oh Jesus," he muttered when set eyes on the piece of machinery. He knew without a doubt, exactly what Hojo had brought it in for.

"Step right up, Z1," Hojo chimed as he clapped his hands together like some demented ringmaster.

"Fuck no!" Zack responded fast. "I ain't going near that thing."

"Let's just skip the whole song and dance, Z1. You and I both know I'm going to have my way so you might as well do as I say," Hojo rambled off in mild irritation. "Your resistance, I'm sure you know, will just lead to a more uncomfortable test for C4."

Always Cloud was Zack's undoing. He had expected the threat. He just didn't expect to give into it so easily. Cloud was going to be hurt anyway, so why didn't he resist? He knew it was because Hojo could make Hell a lot more agonizing for Cloud.

Soon enough, Zack found himself standing next to the press, his one arm being secured to the base plate. He hoped to God it would be a short procedure. He also hoped the pain wasn't too much to bear. Neither of his hopes would be fulfilled. It was a torturously slow procedure. The plunger on the press had been lowered until the upper plate rested against his arm, wedging it between plates. Then, a few millimeters at a time, the upper plate was lowered, applying pressure to his arm. The pressure rose steadily and the pain began. It was incredible. He couldn't even manage to separate his mind from his body long enough for a mild relief. As the bones in his arm began to bend under the extreme pressure, his silence was broken. A minute later he was crying out loudly.

The first real scream came just before the dull crunching sound of his bones finally giving into the pressure. He screamed once more, long and deep before breaking into choked-back sobs. The pressure was stopped but it was another minute before his arm was released as the assistants were taking down numbers. When the upper plate on the press was drawn up and his arm was released, he fell back on the floor, gripping his injured arm. He ground his teeth together trying to bear the intense throbbing and fire in his pain receptors. Sweat had broken out all over his body as he writhed slightly on the cold stone floor.

Cloud was brought into the lab then. His eyes went to Zack immediately. He was shocked to see him as he was. The look of agony rippling through him, his breaths coming in short gasps and hisses. It was bad timing really. If Zack had known Cloud was present, he would have made an effort to make himself calmer and more composed. One of the goons leaned down to grab him then, lifting him to his feet where he realized then that Cloud was in the room. A heartbreaking look of shame came over him. Cloud was too preoccupied watching him to resist what was going to be happening to himself in mere moments.

Soon it was Cloud's cries of pain echoing off the walls of the lab. Tears were trailing down Zack's face as he was forced to watch and re-live the torture again with his friend. Zack had a sudden attack of what-ifs right then. What if Cloud had just continued to resist physical rehab? The accident in the equipment room may not have happened and Hojo wouldn't have thought up this insane procedure. What if he hadn't requested Cloud's accompaniment to Nibelheim those few years ago? What if Zack had just left Cloud to himself when he met him? What if he had just never met him? He was starting to think that the worst thing that could ever have happened to Cloud, was meeting him.


	35. Chapter 35

_Hey everyone. I'm sorry it took awhile to get this out. I wanted to have it out on the weekend but things were too crazy. Anyway, the next chapter I will probably have out in a few days. I have half of it on the go already. So we'll see :) _

_Disclaimer: FFVII not mine. _

Chapter XXXV

Zack's eyes shut themselves instinctively a split second before hearing the strange sound of a slap mixed with a thud followed up by a pained cry. He opened them once again to see his young friend straining in his bonds, his body desperate to get out of the incoming attack. His arms were secured two posts on either side of him, keeping them extended and out from his body. A ball canon was aimed at his torso, more specifically a place on the side of his rib cage. Hojo had rigged the canon so that, instead of shooting tennis balls or baseballs, it shot balls made of iron. The professor hadn't been satisfied with knowing how much pressure was needed to crush the bones of his specimens. He needed to know if results would change when taking into account force of propulsion.

Cloud had been chosen as first test subject. He was still in shock having just had his arm broken in a press only an hour earlier. He felt sick as he stood shakily, trying to keep himself from collapsing. His nerves were choking him as he kept his eyes locked on the machine that was firing spheres of pure hurt at him every ten seconds or so. Each time he was hit, shockwaves of heat went through him, firing up his pain receptors. Every time he heard the sound of the machine firing, he would try to lower his arms, to shield himself instinctively, but he was met only with restraint. Hot tears squeezed from the corners of his tightly shut eyes as the same patch of flesh was battered repeatedly. He tried not to cry out but the sounds seemed to come from someone else. Someone deep inside him.

Finally, after what seemed like the longest eternity imaginable, there was an audible cracking sound as one of Cloud's ribs gave way. Zack found himself letting out a sigh of relief, without really meaning to. He was just happy that the torture was finished for his friend. He was wrong. Hojo inspected Cloud's injury, pressing and prodding at it, drawing deep groans from Cloud as he gritted his teeth.

"Only a crack, keep going," Hojo instructed then. Zack looked at him in shock before turning back to his friend's sad eyes. Sad and pleading. They spoke the words Cloud would never utter himself.

It took three more hits for the cracked rib to break fully. The only indication at first that it had was Cloud's piercing cry. But his cries continued and he began struggling hard to get out of his bonds. He seemed to have lost ability to keep himself standing any longer, his knees giving out under him. Hojo and his assistants glared at Cloud as though his reaction was over-dramatic. Cloud knew what they didn't. He could feel the splintered bone in his torso pushing through his heavily bruised flesh. Hojo seemed to realize a moment before the bone broke surface, what was about to happen. But he only smiled. _He's fucking smiling!_ Zack thought in horror as he glanced back and forth from him to Cloud. A line of blood began trailing down Cloud's naked side, getting absorbed by the waist of his pants.

"Are you gonna let him the hell down, you fucking psycho?!" Zack yelled at Hojo then, his voice trembling a little with a mix of emotion and fury.

Hojo nodded at two of his assistants. They removed Cloud from his bonds, letting him fall to his back where he clutched his bleeding side. He felt like screaming, over and over until he couldn't anymore. But he didn't. He ground his teeth, bit his tongue, did anything to keep from screaming. The pain was so incredible. He could feel the protruding, jagged edged bone pressing against the palm of his hand. He felt like he was going to throw up but he swallowed back the little vomit that did find its way to his throat. He waited to be taken to the med sector where he hoped he'd be put out with anesthetic before the doctor attempted to repair him. He didn't even make it that long. The force of being lifted to a gurney sent a rush to his head and pushed darkness to his eyes, blocking out everything around him and dragging him down into unconsciousness.

000

From somewhere in the darkness, the void of sense deprivation, there was a hand caressing his face. It was soft to the touch. There was something familiar about it though it gave him an odd sensation. Moving into the hand he sighed lightly before opening his mouth to speak.

"Mother?" he questioned in a tone just barely above a whisper.

"Yesss," a voice hissed back at him. That wasn't his mother's voice. His eyes shot open and he sat up straight, shielding his eyes from a blinding, bright green light.

"Ah—who are you?" he strained to question. The light was so powerful, it burned the backs of his eyes. It felt heavy, like it was weighing down on him.

"You know who I am, child," the voice responded like an echo from far away.

"_Jenova_," a different voice spoke from right at his ear. He knew the voice well. It was Sephiroth's voice. Cloud turned fast but was met with open space. "Over here," Sephiroth spoke again from his other side. Cloud shook his head and climbed to his feet, squinting hard against the overwhelming light. He turned a few times, trying to make out anything around him. He could see nothing. Nothing but bright green.

"What's happening?" he questioned frantically.

"Fear not, Cloud," Sephiroth spoke again as two firm hands closed around his shoulders. "You're not alone. Not anymore." Cloud jerked his shoulders to get away from Sephiroth but the general kept a tight grip on him.

"You're dead you son of a bitch," Cloud replied then, feeling anger heating his blood. "Get out of my head!"

"Ohh…we aren't _just _in your head, Cloud," Sephiroth spoke slowly. Though he couldn't see the man, Cloud could feel him there behind him. He could feel his face close to the side of his, the fallen general's lips close to his ear. The feeling of the man's breath against his neck sent a chill down his spine. "We're in every part of you," Sephiroth concluded.

"We?" Cloud questioned in annoyance, trying again to pull away from the invisible man. The hands moved from his shoulders suddenly then, gripping his head on either side and holding it tightly.

"_Look_," Sephiroth demanded. Cloud focused on the space ahead of him. Slowly a shadow was forming in the green. It was coming closer to him, its features beginning to take shape. After a moment, he was looking upon a creature he'd seen before. It was her. Jenova. Cloud felt paralyzed as he watched her approaching. He told himself to move but his body wouldn't comply. He couldn't even blink.

"My newest child," Jenova breathed. "Your brother speaks truth. We're with you now. In here," she said as she motioned to Cloud's forehead "and here." She moved her hand over his heart. Without warning, she thrust her hand through his chest and broke his silence. He screamed against the pain. He could feel Jenova's cold hand wrapping around his heart, squeezing it and twisting.

As quick as the pain had come, it stopped. Cloud opened his eyes to see a mass of watery shapes before him. He realized quite quickly that he was in one of the cylinders in Hojo's lab. Several of the assistants were moving around outside his tank. He spotted Hojo coming toward him, saw the look of deep interest on his face. Standing mere inches from the glass, he spoke. "Whatever were you dreaming about, C4?" he questioned. Cloud could just barely make out his words through the water. "Whatever it was, it must have been quite distressing…" Something else must have caught Hojo's attention. He leaned in closer to the glass, pressing his hands against it. "Drain the cell," he demanded sharply.

Cloud inhaled deeply before the air mask detached from his face and the water began to drain. Hojo barely wasted any time punching in the code to open the door before he stepped up in front of Cloud, trapping him against the glass at his back. He clutched Cloud's dripping face harshly.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Cloud asked, his voice coming out hoarse and unsure.

"Don't talk," Hojo snapped, placing his other hand on Cloud's forehead. Hojo was looking at his eyes. He had no clue why. His sight as far as he could tell had returned to normal. The fact that Hojo seemed to be so interested in them now had him feeling very uneasy. "Give me a light," the professor demanded and one of his assistants handed him a penlight. He clicked it on and shone it in Cloud's left eye. He stepped back after a moment, seeming a little confused.

"What is it professor?" one of the assistants asked.

"Nothing," he said lowly. "Take him to the med sector so Gunan can have a look at him," he added as he stepped away.

Cloud looked toward Zack before being led away. They shared equally puzzled expressions before Cloud exited the lab. He walked along silently, shaking from the cold air on his damp body with a goon attached to his arm. His left forearm had been casted. It was wrapped in some sort of plastic to keep it from getting wet. He wasn't sure how long he'd been in the cylinder in the lab but it couldn't have been very long. His left side ached unbelievably where his rib had been fractured and the spot was still heavily bruised, though the bone must have been repaired and the wound stitched.

In the med-sector, the doctor inspected him before wrapping his rib cage tightly in a white bandage. He was dragged off to his and Zack's cell to await his friend's return. Left alone in silence, his thoughts were swirling. He'd dreamed of Jenova. Why would he dream of her? The dream was more than a dream. It felt real. Jenova's cells were somewhere inside him. Didn't that mean he was no longer his own person? That thought scared him.

Not long after he'd returned to the cell, Zack was brought in. They resembled each other in several ways. The large bandages, the casts, the tired, still shocked expressions over the literal blows they'd been dealt recently. Still Zack smiled. His sad eyes, once so vibrant, glimmered a little brighter when he entered and looked at Cloud.

"Hey, buddy," he said with a sigh as he reached for the clothes laid out for him. After a painful first attempt at bending to reach them, he decided to crouch down for them. "It's pretty crazy shit, huh? We got some superman bone structure now. Just think of all the reckless fun we could have," he joked.

Cloud's expression didn't change. No way Zack was feeling as casual about what was happening to them as he was trying to seem. But that was Zack. Cloud was never good at faking a sense of humour. He didn't have much of one to begin with.

"What the hell was Hojo looking at your eyes for anyway," Zack's muffled voice asked as he pulled his shirt down over his head. "Your sight isn't going again is it?" His tone grew several degrees more concerned.

"No," Cloud replied shortly. He exhaled heavily when he saw Zack's expectant gaze. "I dunno what his problem was."

Zack shrugged lightly before leaning back on the wall behind him. "Man, my head hurts," he said softly, tipping his head back against the cold concrete.

"Just your head?" Cloud asked skeptically.

"Well actually my everything hurts, but my head seems to be competing in the biggest pain in the ass competition to win."

There was a moment of heavy silence then before Zack spoke again. "Somethin' on your mind, kid?"

"I dunno," Cloud answered solemnly. "Just thinking about things I miss…"

It wasn't a complete lie. He was never far from thinking about something from his life he missed. But it wasn't what he was thinking about at that exact moment. He didn't want to get in a discussion about Sephiroth and Jenova with Zack at that moment in time so he didn't bother to tell him about the dream he had.

"Yeah. I miss French toast," Zack responded.

"Just French toast?"

"Course not. I miss orange juice. I miss hash browns. I miss eggs. Oh boy, do I miss bacon," he said with a wide nostalgic grin.

"You miss anything that's not food?"

Zack's expression straightened. "Yeah. Lots of things. Everything really. Goddamn it, I miss the things I never liked to begin with."

"You have a lot to miss," Cloud commented.

"You don't?" Zack asked in confusion.

"I miss my mom. I miss freedom. I never had anything else," Cloud explained softly. "I just don't wanna be afraid anymore. I don't wanna hurt anymore," he added.

Zack gazed downwards, trying to decide how he should respond, or if he should at all. Cloud spoke again before he had the chance to decide.

"You pretend a lot around me." It was a statement, not a question. Zack threw his gaze at him, surprised at his accusation.

"What?"

"You pretend that a lot of what bothers you doesn't. That you aren't hurting as much as you are, that you aren't as afraid as you are. Why do you do that?"

"Uh…" Zack struggled with what to say. He ran a hand over his head out of habit, feeling the growing fuzz of hair under his fingers. When he took too long to come up with something Cloud went on.

"I mean, were you like that with Angeal too? Anyone who you get closer to?"

Zack winced at the mention of his former mentor's name. The last image he had of him was a distorted one, brought on by one of Hojo's horrific simulations.

"No…" Zack began slowly. "Uh, with Angeal…it was different. Angeal was…" he trailed off as he thought about the deep bond he'd shared with the man. He felt his emotions choking him just thinking about it. "It was just different," he concluded. It drew an unsatisfied expression from Cloud. "Look, Spike, I'll try to explain it better sometime. Sometime, when my head ain't killing me," he spoke uneasily as he lay down on his mattress.

Cloud sighed unhappily before turning over on his side, ignoring the incredible pain it gave him from resting on his injured ribs so that he wouldn't have to face Zack's direction.

000

"It's good to see you…Cloud."

Those icy words splintered up his back as he pivoted fast to face the silver-maned general. The man was walking toward him, taking slow, light steps that barely echoed off the walls in the giant room. _Where are we?_ Cloud wondered as he glanced from side to side. It didn't take him too long to realize they were in the reactor, the very reactor that had seemed to seal his and Zack's fate three years ago.

"Why are you tormenting me?" Cloud questioned heatedly, frustration and anger sparking in him fast.

The general chuckled. "Some would think it your own doing. You _did _kill me, after all. Perhaps your guilt is becoming too much for you."

"You're insane. I don't feel one ounce of guilt for destroying a monster like you," Cloud spat at him.

"A _monster_? Ouch. Such harsh words from such a pretty face," he said with amusement as he reached out to stroke Cloud's left cheek with the back of his hand. Cloud batted it out of the way. "You should watch what you say, young Cloud," Sephiroth advised sharply. "Over time I will be a mirror to you. All the things you see in me…will be in you. Well…maybe not _everything_," he said crudely as he eyed Cloud up and down. "Come, tell me, why do you hate me so?" he asked as he began circling Cloud.

"You know why. You destroyed nearly everything in the world that matters to me!" Cloud shouted angrily.

"Oh, come now, Cloud. That's not _why _you hate me."

"You killed my mother mercilessly," Cloud barely spoke above a whisper, tears striking his eyes as he thought of how horrible her death must have been.

"Your mother is not dead," Sephiroth said pointedly. Cloud looked up at him with a confused hope in his eyes. "Mother is here," the man added, extending an arm to his left. Cloud looked to where he was gesturing. It was Jenova, encased in a tank of mako.

"That _thing _is not my mother!" Cloud said sharply. There was a violent shattering of glass that drew back Cloud's attention to the tank. In the same stomach-plummeting second, he noticed Jenova was gone just before feeling someone grab him from behind. An arm circled his torso and pinned his arms to his body while a hand gripped his neck causing him to choke on an inhale.

"You _are _my child," a crisp, piercing voice said close to his right ear. "And you _will _do what I ask of you."

Cloud struggled hard in the iron-grip of the arms holding him. The pressure increased in his neck, cutting off his breathing completely.

"You have much to learn, young one," Jenova spoke again. Sephiroth stepped up in front of Cloud then. He removed his gloves slowly, dropping them to the floor before reaching out toward him. Cloud was trying hard to take air into his chest. His lungs were screaming for oxygen. The pain of it forced tears from his eyes. He wanted to close his eyes as Sephiroth's cold hands clasped the sides of his face but he couldn't. He was paralyzed beyond will. He kept his focus on the general's eyes as he leaned in close. He pressed his forehead to Cloud's and a wave of hot pain fell over him. His paralysis was broken and he shut his eyes, opening his mouth wide in a scream that he couldn't get out past Jenova's hand on his throat.

Suddenly, the pain stopped. The hold on his neck was gone. He took in the first of a series of deep, heaving breaths, opening his eyes to see Zack kneeling over him, a look of deep relief spreading over a concerned and fearful expression. He could feel Zack's hands on the sides of his face.

"That's it, buddy, breathe," Zack urged him as he struggled to intake enough air to satisfy his depraved lungs. His body was shuddering each time he exhaled. Cloud was confused then. He didn't understand what was happening. He'd been dreaming a minute ago, hadn't he? So why was Zack telling him to breathe?

"Za—Zack. Wha?" he uttered between pants, trying to understand what was going on.

"Shh, just relax, you stopped breathing in your sleep," Zack explained softly. Cloud felt his heart skip a beat.

"What? But I—it was a dream," he choked out in disbelief.

"Well whatever it was, you scared the shit out of me. I thought…"

"What?" Cloud questioned Zack when he didn't finish his sentence. He was staring at Cloud with a look of confusion. "Zack, what?"

"It's…your eyes—" he started to explain slowly.

"My eyes?"

"The mako rings. It's like they're…pulsing."

All Cloud could do was stare back at Zack. He felt sick suddenly and struggled to get to the bathroom before losing control of his stomach contents. There was no mirror in the bathroom. No way for him to see what Zack was talking about. As he was splashing water on his face at the sink, he looked down at the tap. Stainless steel. Leaning in close, he gazed at the distorted reflection of himself. He focused on his eyes. It was hard to see but what Zack had said was truth. The thin green circles of mako in his eyes seemed to be pulsing, brightening and then dimming quickly, following something of a rhythm.

"Jesus," he whispered to himself. "What's happening to me?"


	36. Chapter 36

_I gots nothing to say besides you guys are awesome for reading and giving me all your amazing reviews! Enjoy :D_

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII_

Chapter XXXVI

Several weeks passed without Cloud having another dream about Sephiroth and Jenova. He was glad. He managed to dodge Zack questions easier that way. Still, he couldn't help but think it had something to do with the cells that Hojo injected into him and Zack weeks earlier. If that was true, did it mean Zack was having similar 'dreams?' He didn't want to question him about. He and Zack fell into a routine of testing once again. They both knew there were things looming on the horizon they weren't looking forward to. Hojo had mentioned more spinal mako infusions in the near future, along with more cellular injections.

Something that occurred to Zack and Cloud one morning when Syrus had brought them their vitamins and food was that he seemed different. He made very little conversation and left fast. There was little to speculate on but neither of the boys ever expected what happened later that night.

Zack nearly jumped from his skin when he felt a hand on his back. He sat up fast, exhaling slowly when he saw who it was.

"Syrus, is it morning already?" Zack inquired as he rubbed his eyes.

"No. We have to hurry," he said quickly, turning towards Cloud, heading over to wake him up.

"Hurry for what?"

Cloud let out a small groan as Syrus was nudging him.

"C'mon kid, wake up," Syrus urged him. "I'm breaking you guys out," he added. Cloud seemed to snap awake then, sitting up on his mattress.

"What?" Zack questioned in disbelief.

"Come on, there's not much time. The other security guy's on break, he'll back in like twenty minutes," Syrus urged, grabbing for Cloud's arm to help him up. He pushed at Zack with his other hand, moving him to the door.

"You're serious?" Cloud asked as they stepped into the hall.

Syrus led them down to the left and through a door at the end of the hall. He marched them quickly along, glancing back every few seconds.

In the security room, the other night guard had returned for his pack of cigarettes he'd left behind. As he reached for them he glanced at the monitors. His eyes widened when he saw what should be an occupied cell, empty. His hand went immediately for the phone.

"Why now?" Zack inquired. It didn't make sense. Why all of a sudden was Syrus willing to help them? He had the past two years to help them out.

"Does it really matter?" Syrus responded fast.

"Uh, yeah, it kinda does," Zack retorted.

"I just…couldn't live with myself, knowing what I know," Syrus answered cryptically.

"What you know?"

"About the final stages of the project…what they're trying to turn you both into—what they want you to do. It—it's insane!" Syrus stuttered out. "I can't be a part of it anymore."

"Why don't you just leave?" Cloud asked as Syrus shoved them into a service elevator. "Why help us?"

He didn't seem to know how to answer at first. He stood silent as the elevator carried them upwards. At last he spoke. "Maybe because now I can say I at least did something right in my life. It wasn't all for nothing."

They were silent then as they headed out of the elevator down another short hall. Syrus slid a key card through the slot next to the door at the end. It clicked open and they pushed through into the night. Both Zack and Cloud halted suddenly, feeling the brisk air wash over them. It was real. It wasn't simulated. It was the first time they'd been outside in years. Zack felt himself grow weak at the knees but he kept himself standing. He breathed in the air, the smell of wet grass and stones. Cloud gazed up at the moon overhead. It was nearly a full one. Syrus brought their focus back then as he shouted at them to hurry up.

They headed over to a vehicle parked about twenty yards away. "Get in the back and stay low!" Syrus commanded. Zack and Cloud did as they were told, slipping into the backseat of the old car and ducking their heads. Just then, a large stadium light came on, followed up closely by another. Syrus's expression seemed to indicate trouble. He took the car out of park, backing out of the space. Cloud and Zack peered out the back window to see several Shinra guards invading the parking lot. A few of them raised their rifles and the boys ducked down just as several bullets came crashing through the window, showering Zack and Cloud with glass. The shots continued as Syrus hit the gas and sped from the parking lot. They weren't home free. Not even close. There was a long driveway that winded through a wooded area.

"We'll make it, guys!" Syrus yelled back at Zack and Cloud. He spoke too soon. At the end of the driveway appeared two Turks. Cloud didn't recognize them but he could tell Zack did. It was a man and a woman. The man was tall with shoulder-length black hair and the woman was blond. They aimed their guns at the vehicle and began firing. Three shots. The first two shot through the windshield and hit bits of the interior. The third hit its target. The vehicle swerved as Syrus let go of the wheel to clutch the bullet wound in his neck that was pumping blood into his lap. The car hit an embankment then. Zack and Cloud held on to what they could in the back seat as they headed down. The sounds of crushing metal and breaking glass filled the vehicle as it tumbled over and over down the steep incline. It seemed to take forever but finally the car landed upside down at the bottom of the embankment.

There was silence for a few seconds as everything settled. Zack opened his eyes from where he was lying, a mass of twisted metal pressing into his one side. He and Cloud hadn't been strapped down with seatbelts so they'd been thrown around a lot on the way down. He regretted it instantly, feeling a sharp pain moving up and down his spine. Gazing through the darkness and crushed debris he tried to find Cloud. He wasn't that far away though it was hard to make him out. He was partially wedged between the roof below him and the front passenger seat.

"Cloud," he spoke uneasily, breaking into a few short coughs that brought up blood. _Shit_, he thought as he realized he must have been hurt worse than he thought. "Wake up, Spike," he spoke again as he tried to shift himself toward him. He stopped immediately when the pain in his back intensified. Reaching around slowly, he felt something sharp imbedded in his skin. He wasn't about to pull it out since he had no idea what damage had been caused. He tried again to wake Cloud by calling out to him. After another few moments, Cloud stirred, coughing lightly and turning his head toward his friend.

"Zack?" he spoke raspily.

"Spike, you okay?" Zack tried to ask calmly.

"I…think so," Cloud responded hesitantly. There were several cuts on him that Zack could see but he doubted Cloud was feeling them at that point. They were both in shock.

"Can you move, Spikey?"

Cloud shuffled a little, grabbing at the headrest on the seat that was pressed down into his gut. He let out a few gasping breaths as he tried to breathe and get his body free at the same time. "I think I'm stuck," he said in defeat as he let his arms fall to his sides and panted lightly. They lay in silence for a moment, listening to the sounds of voices shouting from a short distance away at the top of the embankment. "We're going back," Cloud muttered then, his voice cracking a little with approaching tears.

Sounds filled the area around the car after a few minutes. The Shinra guards had come down the embankment after them, coming to take them back to Hell. Back to Hopelessness. Flashlights shone into the crushed vehicle, illuminating the wreckage. Voices shouted from Cloud's side, demanding Zack and Cloud come out. Zack scoffed and rolled his eyes. _Do they think we've chosen to hang out in here?_ he thought to himself.

"OUT NOW MOTHERFUCKERS!" one of them screamed.

"WE'RE STUCK YOU—" Zack began his fierce reply but broke into a fit of bloody coughs instead.

"Zack…what's wrong?" Cloud questioned fearfully. Zack's reassurances were cut short by one of the guards reaching in the back passenger window next to Cloud and grabbing his legs, pulling hard. Cloud pleaded for whoever it was to stop because the headrest on the seat over his stomach was digging harder into him, squeezing the breath from him. The guard ignored his pleas, even as they turned to pained cries. He felt like his organs were being crushed.

"STOP, YOU FUCKING MORON!" Zack yelled out to the guard. Cloud pushed hard on the head rest trying to push it's extenders down. His vision was blurring and he knew he was headed to unconsciousness. Just before blacking out, the head rest slid upwards and the pressure on his stomach dissipated. He barely had a chance to take a breath before his body was being dragged out of the vehicle. The broken glass around the window shredded his clothes and dug into his skin.

"Zack!" Cloud called to him, his voice encased in fear. He knew why Cloud was frightened. He was afraid of what Hojo was going to do to them for trying to escape again. Zack was scared himself. Cloud was out of sight then, leaving Zack alone.

Outside in the cold night air, one of the guards was pressing his one knee into Cloud's neck, pinning him to the ground on his chest while one of the others was cuffing him.

"Thought you could get away, huh?" one of them spoke.

"Hey, ain't that the 'Little Bitch,' Mailer?" another called out.

"Hey, yeah! It is!"

"Not quite so little anymore," someone laughed. Cloud struggled under the guard's knee on his neck.

"No but still a bitch I'm sure."

_This is really bad_, Cloud thought then as he recognized a few of the guards to be those who had participated in that one gruesome simulation back before he and Zack were put in 'storage.' The one named Mailer had been the leader of that whole nightmare. He was the reason for the scar on his right side, the result of a severe burn from a soldering iron.

"What the hell are you squirmin' for, bitch?" one of them spoke down to him. "You're not goin' anywhere!" he laughed.

"Yeah, why don't you just make friends with the dirt your made of, kid," another added. Cloud felt a hand on his head that pressed his face harder and deeper into the ground below him. He gritted his teeth and groaned.

"Fuck you!" he shouted angrily, drawing laughs from several of the guards. Inside the car, Zack heard Cloud's words. Something was happening.

"Cloud!" he yelled as loud as his chest would permit. It had become increasingly difficult to breathe and stay awake as he lay in the wreckage. "What the hell's going on?"

"It's those asshole guards!" Cloud shouted back.

"Hey!" one of the guards replied from next to him fast before delivering a hard kick to Cloud's side. The guard kneeling on him finally released the pressure on his neck, letting the force of the kick turn him over. Cloud got another few kicks to his stomach and chest, though he tried to bring his knees up to protect himself.

Zack could hear the sounds of Cloud getting kicked and though he shouted for the guards to leave Cloud alone, they paid him no attention. He tried to move again, gripping the roof below him and trying to pull himself toward the window Cloud had been pulled out through. He only made it a few inches before realizing he wasn't going anywhere. The object he had felt imbedded in the skin of his back was actually the end of a very long sharp piece of metal that had impaled his body from one side to the other. He looked down at where the metal was emerging from his stomach and sat lodged in the roof of the vehicle below him. He was like a piece of meat on a barbecue skewer.

Outside, one of the guards pulled Cloud to his feet. The Mailer stepped up in front of him. He was exactly as Cloud remembered him.

"What did you say? 'Fuck you'? Was that a preposition?" he asked lewdly.

Without thinking, Cloud spit in the guard's face. Mailer took a moment to wipe the saliva from his cheek before grabbing Cloud and slamming him chest first into the trunk of a nearby tree. A small cry fell from Cloud's lips. Zack shouted threats from inside the wrecked car.

"We could just kill you, ya know, Mailer spoke to Cloud closely. "You and your buddy. Just a result of the horrible accident. Couldn't get you out in time."

"Yeah, I'm sure Hojo would love that," Cloud retorted quickly.

"You think I care what that fucker wants?" Mailer asked. "It's his fault he didn't cage you better. He shoulda kept us on. We'd have done a much better job keeping your asses under control." He gripped Cloud's backside as he finished. Cloud pushed himself back, trying to get Mailer away from him. The guard only turned him so his back was to the tree. A night stick crossed over his neck suddenly and was held tightly by one of the other guards, pinning him tightly to the tree and restricting his breathing. Mailer said something to a few of the others and they nodded, chuckling as they moved toward the car.

Cloud watched with horror as they set fire to the wreckage. "ZACK! NO!" he shouted desperately, seeing the flames taking over the front of the car.

Inside the car, Zack could see the flickering light of the flames and feel their heat. He felt panicked then, knowing he was incapable of getting himself out of the vehicle. _Those fucking bastards_, he thought angrily as he began trying to wrench himself from the metal pinning him down.

Cloud struggled against the nightstick hard. Out of nowhere, another of the guards swung a tree branch at him. It was thick and heavy and hit him hard in the chest, knocking the air from his lungs. The hold on his neck disappeared and he fell forward onto his knees, choking and trying hard to get a good breath. He'd barely been on the ground a few mere seconds when Mailer grabbed the back of his shirt and his one arm, pulling him up to his feet again.

"Come 'ere, pretty baby, we're gonna have some fun before you die," Mailer spoke into his ear before clamping his teeth on Cloud's lobe and biting hard. Cloud cried out loudly, stumbling back as he was pulled by his ear. He was pushed onto a large rock and held there by several of the guards.

"Too bad he don't got that crazy-ass hair anymore though. It made a nice hand-hold for leverage," one of them remarked.

"STOP!" Cloud demanded furiously. "Get off me! ZACK!"

His eyes were focused on the flames. Zack was going to burn alive. He had to get to him. A hand gripped him between his legs suddenly, squeezing hard. "I hope it's as good as it was in the simulation," Mailer uttered in a low, vibrating tone.

Cloud's fear was replaced with anger then as he felt hurried hands undoing his pants. _No_, he thought as he tightened his fists and began to pull them apart. A loud groan that escalated into a cry rose from his chest as he used all the strength within himself to pull one of the links apart in the chain on the handcuffs. He seemed to shock the guards and they stepped back uneasily from him. With his hands free, he erupted, striking down two of the guards in front of him quickly with bone-crushing hits to the face. He ducked as his senses told him something was being swung at his head. Turning fast, he grabbed the nightstick being raised at him, wrenching the guard's arm hard. There was a loud SNAP and the guard screamed. Another two Cloud took down with the nightstick he now brandished. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a rifle being aimed at him. He leapt toward cover behind a tree but wasn't quite fast enough, feeling one of the bullets graze his left shoulder. He closed his eyes against the shredded bark flying past him as the tree was fired upon.

When the shots ceased, he opened his eyes, searching for something he could use to retaliate. Nothing. There was nothing! _Fuck!_ he thought angrily before setting eyes on a few stones near his leg. Taking the stones in his hand, he rose slowly, peering around the right side of the trunk, trying to get a grasp on where his targets were. A few shots were fired then and he spun away to the left, hauling off and pitching the first of the stones toward the guard that was now aiming a few feet to the left of Cloud. The stone hit him in the forehead, sending him onto his back on the ground. Cloud let a second stone fly, striking the hand of one of the guards reaching for a gun lying on the ground. The guard cried out and watched as Cloud approached him, picking up the rifle next to him and using the butt of it to knock him out. Cloud surveyed the area quickly. He was the only one left standing. Where was Mailer? _The prick must have taken off for back-up _he realized quickly before turning toward the flaming wreckage. He dropped the gun in his hand, moving to the vehicle fast and dropping down to his knees at the window he'd been pulled out of.

"ZACK!" he shouted into the vehicle loudly. His vision was obscured by the smoke. There was no response. Cloud's heart pounded hard in fear as he took a deep breath and pulled himself forward into the mass of metal. He called out to Zack as he approached, coughing harshly in between shouts. It was so hot inside the car. It was like being in an oven. The front seat was nearly engulfed, the flames lapping towards the backseat. He reached out and found Zack, clamping a hand on his right arm. He shook him and shouted his name once more. Zack's head moved slightly before he erupted into bloody coughs. "Zack! We have to get out!" he shouted frantically to his half-conscious friend, tugging on his arm.

"Spike…" he said tiredly. "I…ca-n't."

"Fuck you, you can't. Move your ass, Fair!" Cloud argued promptly, grabbing his shoulders and trying to pull him onto his back. Zack released small pained cry and Cloud halted.

"I—I'm stuck, b-buddy. Just get out," he ordered. Cloud looked at the metal protruding from Zack's back.

"I'm not just gonna leave you," he protested, grabbing his own shirt so he could cough roughly into it.

"Maybe…you'll be better off," Zack mumbled almost incoherently.

"What?!" Cloud fired at him, not sure he'd heard right. "What the hell are you talking about, Zack!" He inspected the metal in his back more closely. It was thin, softer, than most. _I could saw through it_, he thought suddenly. "I'll be back!" he shouted as he pulled himself out of the vehicle, moving fast to one of the unconscious guards, searching his pockets. Luckily, the guard had one of what he was looking for. A pocket knife. He entered the fiery vehicle again, ignoring the glass around the window as it cut into his palms. He moved himself next to Zack again, he reached a hand under Zack's torso, feeling for the metal. Opening the small hacksaw on the knife, he began sawing at the metal.

"What are you doing, Cloud?" Zack questioned hazily.

"What does it look like?" Cloud replied as he moved his hand has fast as he could, ignoring the overwhelming heat around him.

"I told you to get out," he tried to say forcefully.

"And I told you I'm not leaving you."

Cloud winced against the feeling of the metal cutting his hand as he sawed against it. He pushed the pain to the back of his mind, concentrating on the fact that his idea was actually working. The heat was blistering. He realized suddenly that Zack had already suffered heat burns on his head and arms from his longer exposure. Without another thought, Cloud paused his work to remove his shirt, covering Zack's head with it. He didn't bother to reply to Zack's mumbled words. His exposed back and shoulders stung harshly. He gritted his teeth and pressed harder on the knife, sawing faster, feeling his and Zack's blood on his hands, making the tool that much more difficult to hold onto.

Finally, the metal was cut through, and not a moment too soon. He grabbed Zack's shoulders, turning him over onto his back. He was unconscious again by then. Gripping his friend under his arms, Cloud began pulling him toward the window, grabbing for anything he could to pull himself with. He shredded the skin on the inside of his hands more than once and pushed away the thoughts of what his hands would look like when washed of the blood. He climbed out the window first and then pulled Zack out into the cool air, taking a few deep breaths of fresh air and coughing out the carbon choking him. He noticed quickly that Zack's pant leg was on fire and despite the pain he patted it out using his already injured hands. He checked Zack to make sure he was breathing before finally collapsing on the ground next to him, exhausted beyond imagination. He was vaguely aware that the opportunity for escape was still there. Pushing himself to his knees, he gripped Zack's shirt, shaking him gently.

"Zack, come on, we can get away," he urged him to wake but he wouldn't comply. Cloud's eyes fell to the metal embedded in his gut. "What am I thinking?" he questioned himself aloud. He knew they weren't going anywhere. They were both injured. Zack would die if he didn't get medical attention quickly. What was worse? Death, or Hojo? Hojo of course. But at the risk that they may one day actually escape? There was only one real option. Neither Zack, nor Cloud were about to give up that easily.

He turned Zack onto his side so there wasn't pressure being put on the metal in his body before sitting himself down next to him and sighing deeply. After being in the car's inferno, being exposed to the cold night air was a shock to the body. He found himself shivering as he drew his knees up and wondered how much longer it would be before more guards came after them. He became so lost in his despairing thoughts over their return to the lab that he didn't notice the approaching guard behind him until the end of a rifle was pressing into the back of his head.

"On your knees," a shaking voice demanded. Cloud complied slowly, tucking his legs under him and resting on his knees, placing his hands behind his head before he could be told to do so. The guard walked around to face him. It was one he'd knocked out earlier, blood drying on his face from where it had gushed from his broken nose and busted lip. "Look at me," he demanded. Cloud kept his eyes forward. Without warning, the guard fired his rifle past Cloud, making him jump a little. The guard proceeded to press the end of the rifle into Cloud's forehead. Cloud groaned hard against the feeling of his skin burning under the hot metal, wanting to pull away but staying strong and holding still. "Look at me!" the guard repeated and Cloud raised his eyes to meet his, gazing past the rifle still pressed to his head. "You killed Bax," the guard said angrily, gesturing at one of the other guards lying lifelessly on the ground. "I'm gonna blow your head off," he added in a low tone as he began applying pressure to the trigger on his weapon. Cloud shut his eyes, waiting for the end. In a split second it would all be over, all the pain, all the fighting. Everything.

"DOWN THERE!" an echoing voice yelled then. It was followed up by the sounds of hurried steps crunching their way through the brush to the bottom of the embankment. Cloud opened his eyes once again to stare at the guard in front of him, still holding his weapon against him. He seemed to be struggling with what to do. His decision was made for him when the area was infiltrated by several more guards and an accompanying Turk. "I'll get you back one day," he uttered in a low tone before stepping back quickly, his rifle still aimed at Cloud.

"Here!" he called to the others. Cloud felt hands grabbing for his wrists, removing the broken cuffs still attached to them before another set was slapped on. His eyes followed the Turk who took a phone from his pocket.

"Yes, sir. They're in custody again," he spoke smoothly. "Negative. Both sustained injuries but only one is critical…Right away." He deposited the phone back in his jacket. "Get that one to the med-sector on B4," he ordered a few of the guards. He took Cloud's one arm, yanking him to his feet and pulling him toward the embankment.

"No!" Cloud protested. "Don't leave him alone with them!" he said to the Turk frantically.

"He'll be fine," the Turk responded sharply.

"No, he won't!" Cloud protested, stopping fast and tearing out of the Turk's grip, turning back to where they had left Zack. A hand grabbed the chain between his cuffs and hauled him onto his back hard. The Turk pressed one of his forearms onto Cloud's chest, pinning him down.

"Now is definitely not the time to be attempting a fight!" the Turk spoke harshly.

"Just don't leave him behind, please!" Cloud pleaded. "They'll kill him," he added lowly. The Turk studied him a moment before turning his attention to the guards that were watching his way. He got to his feet, pulling Cloud up with him. He reached for his phone again, pressing only one number before holding it to his ear.

"Elena, get down here and accompany the guards as they escort Fair to the medical sector," he ordered before shutting the phone and pocketing it. "Happy?" he asked rhetorically. Cloud stared up at him in shock.

"You know Zack?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," the Turk responded simply. Cloud stared at him wordlessly for a few moments until the other Turk arrived. He watched the guards moving Zack for a few moments as he was being led away from them back up the embankment. Then he turned back to the Turk.

"How can you go along with all this, knowing it's happening to someone you know?" he questioned in irritation.

"Hojo is a persuasive man. He can make the president want what he wants. And what the president wants, the president gets. It's not personal," the tall, dark-haired man spoke emotionlessly. Cloud shook his head in disbelief. He kept silent the rest of the way back into the mansion, down to the basement and toward the lab where he knew Hojo would be waiting to unleash. Hojo rose from his desk when they entered, his face grim. The Turk removed Cloud's cuffs and nodded at Hojo. "Professor," he greeted.

"Thank you, Tseng," Hojo replied curtly. He watched the Turk leave before returning his eyes to Cloud. "Oh, C4," he muttered as he shook his head. "What _are _we going to do with you?"


	37. Author Note

_Hey guys. Clearly this isn't a chapter. I just wanted to address a few things. Something's happened with the chapters. I'm not entirely sure what but, as some have you have already noticed, if you reviewed Chapter 35, for some reason you aren't allowed to submit a review to Chapter 36. It appears that all the reviews for Chapter 35 were carried over into 36. I think it's probably my fault. I was messing around, trying to removed previous author notes. So, sorry about that. Some of you have been sending your reviews in personal messages to me, which is awesome :)_

_Okay, second thing I want to address. Most of what I learned of FFVII I learned from either Advent Children or my brief encounters with the game. Everything else I have read up online. Unfortunately, I was not aware of many Crisis Core details before beginning my story. Because of this, I decided to ignore certain details, such as when Zack and Cloud met (I have them meeting at the SOLDIER academy in the story). I suppose that makes my story more on the AU side, which I am sort of sorry for because I did intend to keep details close to the original plot. But on the other hand, I enjoy creating a new storyline, so I'm not THAT sorry lol. _

_A few of you have pointed out that Cloud should have recognized Tseng in this past chapter because they would have previously met on the same mission he supposedly met Zack. This is one of those details I wasn't really aware of in my limited knowledge of Crisis Core. I must say, I'm truely impressed by the level of knowledge a lot of you have with regards to small details. It has come to my attention though that several of you are a little annoyed that I'm lacking in accurate representation of the original story. This I am sorry for. Unfortunately, I can't go back and change what I've already written. Well I suppose I could but there would be little point since you've already read it lol. So, at this point I'm just going to keep going as I am, continuity errors and all. _

_I do plan on (some of you know already) posting a sequel to this story as well as a prequel. I will warn you now that if you are one of those readers who wants true original plot you will probably not want to read them. The prequel will be surrounding Cloud and Zack and their first encounters with one another (which clearly didn't happen in the original storyline) and the sequel at this point is going to have very little to do with the events of FFVII. Not right away anyway. Also, some of you may have noticed, I'm not sure because no one has said anything, but I've tried to keep the story a little more on the realisitic side in that mako and Jenova cells are about as fantasy as it gets. This probably won't change. __I began this fanfic because I was intrigued by the friendship between Zack and Cloud and wanted to explore that more fully. So unfortunately, I tend to care a little more about character development than I do about plot events. _

_Please, don't take this note the wrong way and assume I don't want your imput, because I do. I appreciate it. But I felt with more than just a few people pointing out the same things in the story that it would just be easier to get this out of the way. Hopefully it'll save some of you some time if you were going to inquire about any of what I've just explained above. As always, your reviews are what inspire me to continue writing and I must say a special thank you to those of you who have been very regular with your reviews and support. It means a lot to me :)_

_Okay, that's all I got. Thanks for your time, guys, cheers._


	38. Chapter 37

_Hey guys. Been really swamped with life stuff so it'll probably take me awhile to respond to your reviews. Normally I would respond to them before updating but I figured given the choice you'd rather have the update. _

_Disclaimer: FFVII not mine. _

Chapter XXXVII

Lying on his stomach on a table in the med-sector, Cloud listened to sounds of soft clicking from the clock on the wall across the room. He was acutely aware that the drugs he'd been given to numb him and send him into a semi-conscious state were wearing off, bringing with it a series of intense pains. Mere hours earlier he'd felt very little. A prodding soreness in his hands and a few other places on his body. He'd had adrenaline on his side then. Now he had pain. Pain, and a great deal of confusion. He shouldn't have been in the med-sector. He should have been strung up in the Hanger, or chained to a moldy wall in the D-Wing. But no. Hojo's words had been vague. Something about he and Zack deserving punishment but since they'd practically been 'kidnapped' he couldn't in good conscience lay all blame on them. _Good conscience? _Cloud questioned to himself. _Is he fucking serious?_ The lunatic had nothing close to a good conscience. Still, Cloud had left the lab no more scathed than he had entered and was brought to the med-sector for treatment. He had no idea what the extent of his injuries were. Apparently they were worse than he imagined.

His arms were extended off the table at his sides, his hands resting in trays of cool water turned pink from his blood. There were ice packs lying on his back. It was uncomfortable and chilled him to the core. Earlier, in his half-conscious state, he'd watched the doctor scrubbing burnt flesh from his hands. The thought of it now made him feel sick. He distracted himself with thoughts of Zack, wondering what had happened to him. He hoped to God he was safe and the Turks hadn't let the guards do anything to him. A spot in the centre of his forehead ached a little then as he thought back on what had happened. He couldn't see it but he knew it was there, a small ring of red, a minor burn from the end of the rifle the one guard had pressed to his skin. No matter how much time passed, the guards never changed. Their rage and frustration was always the same.

In fact, in the three years he and Zack had been held against their will, they'd only run into three people with some form of outright compassion: Dr. Marsh, Doner, and Syrus, all three of whom could be dead, Syrus for sure. It was hard to believe what had happened to Syrus and Cloud had seen it himself. The man's last moments had been spent trying to help them. He was the only one who had had the guts.

Cloud realized then, there was the sound of wheels rolling over tile coming from out in the hall. He lifted his head from the table slightly and looked toward the door. A moment later and a gurney was being wheeled in. Zack lay atop unconscious. A large dressing covered the spot on his torso where he'd been impaled in the accident. His face and arms were marred in small cuts or scratches from the glass that had shattered in the car. Much of his exposed skin was still dusted in smoke and ash from the fire.

"I'm surprised to see you awake," the doctor spoke to Cloud from where he was standing at one of the counters. Cloud had been watching the assistants moving Zack to a spot in the room to his right. He turned his head toward the doctor after he spoke. "You were given a fairly strong sedative, I thought you'd be out by now." Cloud had nothing to say in response. He closed his eyes, sucking in a breath as a short wave of throbbing pain went through him. "You're lucky," the doctor went on. "Your mako enhancements prevented you from suffering permanent nerve damage," he explained while he jotted down some things in a file.

Cloud scoffed quietly. "Lucky…sure," he muttered. He wasn't feeling so lucky. He'd have preferred to not feel the pain at that point. He turned his head back toward Zack. Outside of the obvious large wound he'd received in the accident he seemed okay. The burns he did have from the fire were very minor, only heat burns. Cloud hadn't been so lucky. He hoped the damage to his hands wasn't going to hinder him from doing things in the future. His back wasn't so much of a concern for him. It was already scarred from the Hanger croppings and it was a part of him he could easily keep hidden. Hands were different. He had a feeling he was going to be wearing gloves a lot in the coming years.

He sighed, closing his eyes and drawing darkness to himself, trying to will himself unconscious. A voice shot him back to awareness.

"Cloud," Zack spoke tiredly, his voice cracking. Cloud opened his eyes fast, hoping he hadn't just imagined his name being spoken. He hadn't imagined it. He locked eyes with Zack and watched a smile come over him.

"How you feeling?" Cloud asked him softly, trying to keep the quiver from his voice from the pain and chill he was experiencing himself

"Eh, you know…like crap," he replied with a dull laugh. Cloud returned a small smile. Zack grew serious then. "You got yourself pretty burned up, huh?" Cloud nodded slightly. "Well if you had listened and got out of the car when I told you to…"

"C'mon, Zack," Cloud uttered quietly, telling him without speaking the words to let it go.

"Well I'm glad you didn't listen," Zack spoke seriously. "You saved my ass, Spike."

Cloud shrugged a little. "What else would I have done?"

000

Knowing Zack was alright, Cloud found it easier to let the sedatives he'd been given take full affect on him. He spent a few days in an induced state, only waking a few times when something was being done with his hands or back. At some point he had noticed Zack was gone. He presumed he'd been deemed well enough to return to his cell. It wasn't long after that he would be joining him. It happened shortly after he overheard a conversation the doctor was having with Hojo on the phone. It left him feeling very uneasy about his condition.

"Yes. Yes, he is," the doctor spoke "but professor, it is imperative he stays in a sterile environment. He's at serious risk for infection…It's possible. But I don't recommend making an experiment of it…Fine…As you wish."

The doctor hung up the phone and came towards Cloud. "Sit up," he commanded then stuck his head out in the hall. "Get in here and take him back to his cell," he called to the goon standing by. In a few moments, Cloud was being brought to the cell. He was nervous over the thought that he and Zack might be separated again. His nerves were eased immediately upon him entering the room and finding Zack resting on his mattress. He raised his head slightly to see who had entered before sitting slowly, holding his torso where he'd been wounded in the car crash. The goon left Cloud in the room and headed out, shutting the door behind him.

"I didn't expect to see you, kid," Zack spoke tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

"Me either," Cloud mumbled before lowering himself to his own mattress.

"You don't look so good."

"You don't look so great either," Cloud pointed out.

"I can't believe how close we were," Zack said dejectedly, falling back on his pillow.

"I can't believe Syrus is dead," Cloud added.

There was silence then for a few minutes before Zack spoke again.

"How'd you get that burn on your forehead?" he questioned.

Cloud shrugged. "The fire," he suggested. Zack looked at him skeptically. Cloud sighed and gave up the truth. "Some guard," he said casually.

Zack cleared his throat nervously. "Did they—"

"No," Cloud answered fast, cutting him off.

"You don't have to lie to me," Zack responded softly.

"I'm not," Cloud retorted.

"Well, not this time," Zack said a little more forcefully than he intended. "But I know there're things you've tried to hide from me."

"Maybe 'cause it's none of your business," Cloud responded in clear irritation. "It's not like you you're pro-honesty, Zack."

"I tell you the things you need to hear, Cloud. That doesn't make me a liar."

"So what? You need to hear every little thing that's happened to me when you're not around? Is that what friendship is for you? You get to know everything while choosing the things about yourself to tell? Do you really need to know that I jerked off some fat guy in a simulated whore house? Does that complete our relationship, Zack? None of the shit even fucking happened."

"It's not just the simulations you didn't tell me about, Cloud. You've lied to me since the day we met."

"Yeah well…maybe I tell _you _what you need to hear."

"You don't need to do that."

"Yes I do!" Cloud responded angrily.

"Why?!"

"Because I don't need you feeling sorry for me! I don't want that kind of friendship with someone!"

A heavy silence came over the room for a moment. Zack exhaled forcefully.

"Well that's tough shit, kid, 'cause I _do _feel sorry for you. You've had it rough. But that's not why I'm friends with you. I like your company, so sue me. And you're more than a friend to me and pretty much that's not gonna change."

"I goddamn hate you sometimes," Cloud muttered across the room.

"Good. I love you too," Zack replied smugly. Cloud turned away from him on his mattress. He was exhausted and starving.

It was a few hours before a goon came to give them food. With his stomach full, Cloud was comfortable enough to forget about the pain in his body to drift into sleep. It was mere hours of peace before he was disturbed once again.

From somewhere in the darkness, something passed by him closely sending a short breeze over him. He opened his eyes and strained them to see.

"Poor little Cloud. So in pain. So broken," a horribly familiar voice spoke.

"I'm not broken," Cloud replied firmly, his tone edged in slight anger over the accusation. He turned his head to look over his shoulder, focusing on the movement headed in his direction.

"_Yet_," the sharp voice responded from directly in front of him. He jumped a little when he faced the man who had recently been haunting him. Sephiroth. His smooth, sharp-featured face was directly in front of his, mere inches away. The man reached a gloved hand toward him, touching his face. "Mother can help. If you let her. She can make it so you never feel pain again."

"What? Like make me numb?" Cloud snapped, raising his own hand to knock the general's away. "I'll pass."

"You can't run from her. She'll get to you sooner or later. She is inside you," Sephiroth pressed on.

"That…_thing_—Jenova, she means nothing to me."

In a second's time, Cloud found himself being shoved down on his back on the floor, Sephiroth pressing him down with a tight grip around his neck. He brought his face close once again, the tip of his nose just brushing Cloud's.

"You will learn to show our mother more respect," he threatened icily. "I'll make sure of it."

Cloud was startled out of his dreams, opening his eyes fast to gaze across the tiled floor. He felt cold but his body was sweating from head to toe. His stomach tightened suddenly and he realized he was about to be sick. Dragging himself from his mattress quickly, he lifted himself up and moved for the washroom. A rush of weakness went through him, stealing the strength from his legs and sending him to his knees. He ignored the shock of pain and stumbled his way into the bathroom, half crawling. He vomited violently, his body aching all over as he heaved over and over. The force of it pulled tears from his eyes that slid down his cheeks or fell into the toilet bowl as he was leaning over it. When his stomach seemed satisfied that it was empty enough, he finished spitting out what was left in his mouth and sat back on his heels a moment.

Something wasn't right with him. He felt strange. Weak and achy in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. It reminded him of the weeks he had been sick before he and Zack had been put asleep for two years. He hoped to God that wasn't happening to him again, whatever it was. It had been like living in a permanent state of 'almost death.'

He didn't know when it happened but eventually he was lying on his back on the bathroom floor, his head spinning. He couldn't remember lying down. He realized he must have blacked out momentarily. He could feel his heart beating hard against his chest. It was fast. His body felt heavy, his muscles seemed like liquid. He knew he should move but couldn't will himself to do it. He blacked out again. He knew because he was opening his eyes suddenly and felt his cheek pressing against the tile. The aroma of vomit sparked his senses and he could see a small splatter of it an inch from his mouth on the floor. At least he'd had enough sense to turn over to throw up unconsciously.

He thought he could hear his name faintly. _Zack_, he thought. He wanted and didn't want Zack to see him at the same time. He didn't want Zack to see him the way he was but at the same time he didn't want to lie there alone. He wanted someone nearby to ground him, to keep him from slipping away.

"Spike!" Zack spoke in shock as he entered the doorway of the washroom. He crouched down next to Cloud, placing a hand on his shoulder and observing him closely. Cloud looked up at him, hating the sympathy in his violet eyes and feeling grateful for it at the same time.

"Don't feel well," he mumbled softly.

"What's wrong?" Zack asked. His words seemed to be coming from far away. "Cloud?"

Cloud heard the deep concern in Zack's voice as he spoke his name but he wasn't able to respond. Another black out took him away. He was shaken back to consciousness sometime later. He felt something pressing down on his chest. He managed to pry his heavy eyes open to see Zack sitting on the floor next to him, one of his hands holding him down. At first he thought it was Zack that had shaken him awake but he realized quickly enough it was himself. He was shaking all over as he lay on his mattress. Zack must have brought him out to it while he was passed out.

He shut his eyes tightly then as he felt a sharp pain at the backs of his eyes. His head was pounding horribly. "S-something's wrong," he managed to hiss out.

"I know," Zack replied softly. "I've tried getting the attention of whoever the fuck watches us in here," he added as he looked towards one of the cameras "but no one's come yet." Cloud's shaking intensified for a moment and Zack's hand pressed a little firmer on Cloud's chest. He could feel his friend's racing heart under his palm. Cloud closed his eyes tightly, pressing his head back into the pillow hard and trying to quiet his racing thoughts. When he opened his eyes once again his vision was drawn immediately to the door. Leaning against it, his mouth molded into a cold smirk, was the former general, Sephiroth. Cloud's breath caught in his throat as he sat up fast.

"Cloud, wha—" Zack began to question.

"It's him, he's here, Zack!" Cloud spoke frantically. Zack's mouth fell open slightly as he watched his friend.

"Spike, what are you talking about, there's no one here besides us," Zack responded in a calm tone.

"Zack! He's right there, look!" Cloud insisted. Zack snorted and shook his head a little before glancing back over his shoulder.

"Goddamn…" Zack muttered.

"I told you!" Cloud replied quickly. Zack returned his eyes to Cloud. Their expression was one of deep concern and sadness.

"There's no one here, Spikey," he said at last. Cloud looked at him in disbelief. As Sephiroth began to move toward the foot of his mattress he snapped into action, drawing himself back against the wall behind him fast. Zack watched him painfully. He reached out to Cloud but Cloud drew himself away from him.

"Why can't you leave me alone?!" Cloud shouted towards the end of his bed. Zack grabbed his arms then and shook him hard.

"Cloud! Stop this, there's no one here!" he said in a kind of desperate anger. "Look at me!" he demanded before grabbing Cloud's head and turning it toward him. Cloud's wide eyes met his for a brief moment before shifting back to where they'd been focused so intensely.

Cloud saw Sephiroth holding his sword. The lights bounced of its sleek surface. The general raised it. There was a cold smile on his lips as he began to swing toward Zack.

"NO!" Cloud shouted in horror and shoved Zack back as hard as he could. Zack fell onto the floor on his back. Sephiroth laughed. The man never laughed. As swift as his first swing with his sword had been he thrust it forward into Cloud's chest. Cloud gasped and choked on the breath in his lungs as he felt the cold blade slice through his tissue. The blade was dislodged quickly and Cloud fell back against the wall behind him, grasping his chest and struggling to breathe through the new pain. He watched as Sephiroth stepped back slowly, his body becoming transparent before vanishing altogether.

Zack watched Cloud a moment in confusion before pulling himself from the floor and moving up next to him again. Cloud's breaths were going in and out of him in short wheezes. "Spikey, come on," he spoke softly, his fear bringing emotion to the surface and threatening to bring tears from his eyes.

Cloud raised his hand then and touched Zack's face, much like he'd done when he'd been blind. "They're going to destroy us," he whispered.

"No," Zack protested weakly. "Cloud, don't…"

It was all he could will himself to say. Cloud was headed somewhere he would be hard-pressed to get out. Someplace unreachable to the outside world. He couldn't let that happen. He brought himself to a stand and gazed up at the cameras mounted in the corners. _Think of something_, he told himself. _You're fucking SOLDIER, you get paid to improvise_. He had to think of a reason why someone would come for them. At this point it was clear Hojo had every intention of letting them suffer alone for awhile. Obviously Cloud's state of being wasn't enough to bring aid. What would? Maybe if someone were outright about to die…

Zack took a deep breath. He knew what he could do. But if it didn't work…_Don't think about that_, he scolded himself. He walked into the bathroom, where he'd be out of camera view. He removed his shirt and gazed down at the dressing taped to his skin. He began pulling at the one corner, wincing as the adhesive pulled at his skin as it was being removed. With the dressing removed he found himself staring at a line of blue stitches, showing the place where he'd have one hell of a scar one day. He was about to make it worse. Gripping the stitching with his fingernails he began to pry it apart. It hurt like hell. It was so bad he needed to sit himself on the lid of the toilet so he could force himself to continue. Hot tears began to stream as he dug at the stitching harder, ignoring the blood that was making his fingers slick. As the minutes passed he successfully reopened a small hole in his stomach. He took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself before pushing his fingers into the wound, trying to start a good flow of blood. He cried out loudly before breaking into some short sobs.

It worked. He was bleeding out steadily. As he pulled himself to his feet he found he was already lightheaded and overcome with shock. He dragged himself from the bathroom, back into the view of the cameras. _Please work_, he pleaded internally as he slid down the back wall to sit on the tile next to Cloud. He made no attempt to hinder the flow of his blood as he did so. He looked down at his friend. Cloud seemed to be unconscious, though his body was shivering badly and sweat covered his face.

"Don't worry, Spike," he mumbled softly. "Someone will come. You'll feel better soon."

It was an extreme leap of faith that he felt, as his vision began to get away from him, perhaps he shouldn't have made.


	39. Chapter 38

_Hey everyone, I hope there was no confusion for you in my replies to some of your reviews. I know some of you had more than one review that were awaiting response so hopefully you were able to see which reply went to which review. I am still behind in my replies. I truly appologize for that. I hate not keeping on top of things. But as I've said, I don't have a lot of free time these days so I tend to spend the time I do have writing. I also appologize for my replies being shorter than I wish they were. I always feel really guilty for that._

_Anyway, thank you so very much for reading and reviewing. I promise it won't be too long before you hear from me again. :)_

_Cheers. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII. _

Chapter XXXVIII

It was one hell of a struggle to stay conscious, Zack found, as he was fighting with his head at the moment to keep it from falling against his chest. He had assumed that, if his plan was going to work, someone would have come charging into the room within 15 minutes and Zack could have alerted them to Cloud's critical condition. But 15 minutes had come and gone. A while ago in fact. Now his fears were taking over. As he gazed over the sticky pool of red next to him, watching his vision fading in and out, the downside to the plan was wholly realized. He was now too weak to help himself. And if by chance he passed out and someone finally came, he wouldn't be able to urge them to bring Cloud along. Though now that he really thought about it, there was no way to assure his plan would even get Cloud help even if it was successful. Someone could have come and taken him to the med-sector and left his friend there alone to sink deeper into sickness.

He was going to fail again. Failing and letting his friends down. They were two things he was good at. That's what he'd decided. Darkness stole him a moment and found him sliding from his slumped sitting position to the floor. Somehow he fought his way back to the light. He focused his eyes on the door and tried to will it to open. If he wished hard enough, it would happen.

It wasn't happening. He couldn't fight to be awake anymore. He just hoped that when someone did finally come, it wasn't too late. "Sorry, Cloud," he whispered through cold lips. "I tried."

He accepted the darkness then. Let the fuzziness in his eyes come together and blot out the room. He felt his body sink slowly, through the floor, through reality. It was peaceful and quiet, and it was torn from him all at once when something pressed hard on his stomach drawing a cry from his lips. He forced his eyes open and could see the room moving. No it was him. He was moving. Someone had his arms and was dragging him from the room while another was pressing a cloth into his wound. They were leaving Cloud behind. They shut the door to the room and pulled Zack onto a gurney waiting in the hall.

"No…" Zack struggled to make words. "You can't leave Cloud…Stop!"

He grabbed for the hands of the person pushing the gurney at his head. It was a pointless attempt. Feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline brought on by anger, he grabbed the lab coat of the person walking next to the gurney, pressing the cloth to his stomach. Pulling the man closer he reached up and clutched his neck hard. Both men tried to get Zack to release his hold but he wouldn't.

"Go check him, _now_!" Zack demanded and finally the one complied, heading back the cell. He reappeared shortly.

"Alright!" he agreed. "We'll come back for him," he assured Zack impatiently then urged him to release his grip on the other med assistant. He did so reluctantly. He forced himself to stay conscious again until he saw Cloud being brought into the med-sector. Satisfied that the doctor would now be able to do his job and fix his friend, he let his body shut down.

There was no real way to for Zack to be sure of how long he stayed unconscious. All he had was the feeling that it had been more than a few hours. His vision spun when he opened his eyes and stared up at the fluorescent lights in the ceiling. Shifting his gaze he could see a bag of dark red liquid hanging from an IV pole. There was a half-drained bag of clear liquid hanging next to it. He followed the tubes down to where they ended in his arm. Lifting the sheet over his torso slightly he could see a large dressing covering his wound. _Holeless once again_, he thought to himself as he turned his head to his left. His eyes fell upon his friend. He never expected to see him as he was. Lying stripped of all clothing but his boxers, shaking and sweating all over, his muscles straining themselves for a reason unseen. There were no intravenous tubes attached to him. Nothing to suggest he was being helped in any way. Only a few electrode patches were visible on his torso. Standing nearby was the doctor.

"What's wrong with him?" Zack asked worriedly as he watched Cloud panting and struggling to breathe unconsciously.

"He has an infection. His burns have made him immunocompromised," the doctor responded flatly as he watched the monitors displaying Cloud's stats.

"What does that mean? He's sick—is he dying?" Zack questioned fearfully.

"Yes," the doctor said simply.

"Well why aren't you fucking helping him?!" Zack shouted then in frustration.

"Because Hojo wants to see him help himself," the doctor replied. Zack was too shocked by the ridiculousness of that claim to respond.

000

Zack spent the next few hours alternating between watching Cloud and watching the clock. The minutes dragged on and on and Cloud's condition never bettered. It was no surprise that he grew worse the longer he was unaided. His movements grew slower, her muscles ceased to strain and his breathing became mere soundless gasps that barely found his chest rising. His pulse had slowed as well to the point that Zack feared every beat was going to be the last. He pleaded with the doctor more than once to do something. He had gotten angry, pulled on the cuffs that secured his one arm to the bed. Threatened. Nothing worked.

Nothing worked until Cloud decided he'd had enough of breathing. He just stopped. It took a second for the sensor on his chest to detect it. Then the loud bleeping on the respiratory monitor started up. Zack shot up in his bed, panic gripping him instantly.

"Cloud! No!" he shouted to his friend. "Breathe, Cloud! Doctor!" He pulled on his cuffs frantically. He kept his eyes on Cloud's heart monitor. His heart was still going, barely. But his lungs remained breathless. The doctor appeared finally but to Zack's surprise, he just stood there, watching the monitors. "Do something!" Zack nearly screamed at him. "He's not breathing!" The doctor said nothing and paid no attention to Zack.

Zack's wide eyes fell upon his friend again and he watched as the skin around his lips and eyes began to blue. He felt his own frantic emotions rising to the surface; fear, anger, panic, outrage. They were choking him. "You're letting him die, you fucking bastard!" he continued his outburst at the doctor. "Stop treating us like experiments! You're a goddamn doctor and it's your job to help people!"

There was no way to know if that was the statement that got to the doctor. Only he knew for sure. But whatever the reason, he unlocked a drawer nearby and retrieved a bottle of epinephrine and a syringe. He filled the syringe with a small about of the liquid and injected it into Cloud's arm. A few seconds after the injection had been given Cloud's eyes shot open and he gasped and drew in a deep breath. The mako in his blue eyes was glowing vibrantly. Zack could see it even from where he was. Zack wasn't entirely sure but he thought he heard Cloud breathe the word 'no.'

The doctor noticed Cloud's eyes as well. He reached for his phone. It didn't take a genius to know he was calling Hojo. Zack dreaded what Hojo was going to do when he found out about Cloud's odd new attribute. He listened to the doctor speak.

"Professor, you're going to want to come have a look at C4."

That was all that was said. It was all that needed to be said. Hojo appeared almost as though he had been standing in the hall outside the room. He approached quickly, stepping up next to where Cloud lay. "What is it?" he questioned the doctor who reached over and pried Cloud's left eye lids apart to expose one glowing eye. "Yes," Hojo hissed with great pleasure. "This is what we've been hoping for."

"Perhaps so," the doctor replied. "But he's not fighting the infection adequately enough to overcome it on his own."

"He has the capability. That's the beauty of Jenova. I'll send an assistant with another injection." Hojo looked over at Zack then. Zack had made a point not to look his way. His jaw pulsed as he clenched it in anger however. "You're awfully quite, Z1," Hojo remarked. "Are you feeling left out? I wouldn't worry. I have plans for you. You've been quite the naughty specimen. You seem to have a bit of an addiction to hurting yourself. I had no idea you were such a masochist," he said with a mild chuckle.

"Fuck you, Hojo, you know why I did it," Zack fired back at him, turning a fierce gaze on him.

"Ah yes, to indulge your saviour complex," the professor mused.

"You know what, Hojo, maybe you should thank me for what I did. Or do you want Cloud to die? Is that going to help your goddamn crusade?"

"Oh, Z1, really. Do you honestly think I would be so careless?" He paused as if waiting for an answer from Zack. Zack said nothing. "Hmph. You don't know me very well."

"I don't want to know you at all," Zack responded sharply.

Hojo only responded with a taut smirk before turning for the door. "I want no intervention with C4 unless absolutely necessary, doctor," he said sternly before departing the room.

Zack returned his gaze to Cloud, watching him as he clenched the sheet under him at his sides. He was breathing shallowly and with a great deal of effort. His brow was knit tightly, squeezing together the tiny beads of sweat that seeped from his pores. Zack listened to the sounds of the monitor tracking Cloud's heartbeat bleeping in irregularity, speeding up and slowing rapidly.

One of the lab assistants arrived shortly after Hojo had left. He carried with him a small metal case that he clicked open to retrieve a syringe filled with the ominous Jenova cells. As the tip of the needle touched the thin flesh of his inner elbow, Cloud jolted suddenly, startling the assistant who nearly dropped the syringe. It seemed to be an unconscious response on the part of Cloud. He didn't appear to be very aware of what was going on.

It was a few moments after the cells had been injected that Zack realized he'd been holding his breath. He didn't know what he had expected to happen but nothing did. Nothing that could be seen anyway. Cloud's stats never changed, nor did his state of semi-consciousness. It didn't take long for the epinephrine injection to wear off and find him sinking back to the brink of fatality. Whatever Hojo had been expecting to happen by forcing more Jenova cells into Cloud's body it wasn't happening.

Cloud's condition became more than critical. With a fever so high his blood was close to boiling inside his skin and an infection threatening to leave him permanently damaged, the doctor was forced to intervene. He prepared an intravenous feed and within half an hour Cloud was finally getting the help he needed. The antibiotics' affects were slow to be produced, given the time the infection had had to spread, but after a few hours he had ceased shaking and his breathing had become more regulated.

Zack slept then, exhausted due to his own weakened condition and from the stress of having seen his friend nearly pass before his eyes once again. He slept lightly, dreaming dreams he would have been happy to not have had, waking now and then and checking to make sure Cloud was still breathing before letting himself pass out once again. It was during one of his waking moments that he picked up on the sound of the doctor on his phone.

"C4 is stabilized. Intervention was necessary to prevent excessive cellular death…Yes. He's going to need to remain in a sterile environment for some time…I agree. Containment in the lab would be optimal…Z1 should be ready to continue treatment shortly…tomorrow? That may be too—yes, professor. As you wish."

There was the sound of the phone being shut and set down, followed up but footsteps headed toward the office at the end of the short hall in the room. A door clicked shut and Zack opened his eyes, glancing first at the clock and then over at Cloud. He appeared to be sleeping.

_Great_, Zack thought then. _Testing tomorrow. Let the torture begin again_. And containment for Cloud? No doubt that meant he was going to be spending a fair amount of time submerged in one of the cylinders in the lab. He didn't know if he should consider Cloud lucky or not. He was going to get a much-needed rest but what would happen when he was woken again? Something had changed in him, something that Hojo had been waiting for. Something he was going to be eager to explore. It had Zack wondering why he wasn't experiencing the same effects as Cloud from the Jenova cells. What was so different about him?

His contemplations were set aside suddenly when his eyes fell on the doctor's cell phone sitting on the countertop next to Cloud's bed. The doctor had left it. Left it there within possible reach of his friend. Almost _certain _possible reach. If he could get hold of that phone...but he couldn't. He stared down at the cuff around his wrist, chaining him to the bed's guardrail. There was no way. But Cloud…he could do it. He had to get Cloud to wake up.

"Cloud," Zack whispered, shifting his eyes back and forth from the doctor's office door to his friend. Cloud didn't move. "Spike…come on, wake up," he whispered a little louder. He saw Cloud's bandaged fingers twitch a little. "Spikey, open your damn eyes!" he said as loudly as he could while still being quite. Cloud moved his head then and inhaled deeply before opening his eyes slowly.

"Yes! Spikey! Look this way, kiddo," Zack urged. Cloud complied slowly. His tired eyes met Zack's but only for a moment before they fell closed again. "No! Cloud, wake up! I need you, buddy," Zack spoke frantically.

Cloud took another deep inhale, letting the air out slowly through his slightly parted lips. "Zack," he barely breathed his name.

"Yeah! Yeah, Spike," Zack responded fast.

"Mmwha-tis it?" Cloud mumbled almost incoherently.

"We got a chance to get us some help, buddy, but I need you awake, okay?"

"Help?" Cloud questioned softly. His eyes were still closed.

"Yeah. We could kinda use it right now, huh? Can you open your eyes for me, Spike?"

"'M tired, Zack," Cloud protested weakly.

"I know you are, buddy, I know. But only you can do this," Zack explained patiently though he was dying to start screaming for Cloud to do as he says.

"Do what?"

"Listen to me, Spike. Open your eyes and look to your left, alright?"

Cloud did as he was told slowly, opening his eyes a little and turning his head to the left as Zack had instructed.

"Do you see that cell phone, Cloud? Right there on the counter next to you?" Cloud said nothing and Zack thought perhaps he'd let himself go to sleep again. "Spike!"

"I…I think so…" Cloud responded at last and Zack sighed in mild relief.

"Okay. Good. You need to see if you can reach it, buddy."

Cloud lifted his left arm weakly and the cuffs attaching him to the bed clanged on the guardrail. Zack hissed in a breath in dread as he shot his gaze back to the doctor's office door, expecting to see it open. A few seconds passed and the door stayed shut.

"You're going to have to reach over with your right hand, Spike," he explained to Cloud, who looked as if the simple motion of moving his arm had exhausted him. Cloud looked at him.

"I don't think I can, Zack…" he said brokenly.

"Yes, you can, Cloud. You can. You just have to try. You can help us both, kid, if you just do this one thing."

"Okay," Cloud whispered before turning his head back toward his goal. He lifted his right arm slowly, sliding it over his stomach and beginning his reach. Zack watched with agonizing anticipation as Cloud twisted his body and struggled to reach out to the counter next to his bed.

"C'mon, kiddo," Zack urged him quietly.

With an incredible exertion of effort, Cloud's fingers finally reached the countertop. He had opened the floodgates of pain in his body when he had forced it to move. He wanted so desperately to stop and lay back on the bed; to go back to sleep. But he pushed on, sliding his fingers over the cold countertop, within inches of the phone.

When the tips of his fingers touched the edge of the phone he felt an anxious success. It was anxious because the phone was still not in his hand. He had met the end of his body's extension and he was only just barely touching the cell. He began desperately trying to pull the phone closer with his fingers but the phone stayed in place, merely spinning a little back and forth.

"Come on, Spike you can do it," Zack encouraged nervously. Cloud reached harder, trying for every last bit of extension he could get in his stiff and sore body. There was a click then and the sound of air rushing into a formerly closed room as the door to the doctor's office opened. All of Zack's hope was extinguished in that second as he saw the doctor emerge. But Cloud didn't stop reaching for the phone. Either he hadn't noticed the doctor approaching or he didn't care.

Finally, the phone slid just enough in Cloud's fingers that he was able to grasp onto it. And at the same moment he felt a rush of relief, he also felt and saw a hand come down on his, gripping it forcefully. He looked up into the eyes of the doctor.

"I think it's about time you went to the lab," he said coldly as he pulled the phone from Cloud's weak hold. Cloud fell back on the bed, panting softly. The doctor flipped open the cell phone and dialed for the professor promptly.

"I'm sorry, Zack," Cloud said shakily as he closed his eyes tightly, trying to prevent them from allowing escaping tears.

Zack looked back at him sadly. His guilt struck him hard as he thought about Cloud being potentially punished for what he'd just attempted. He hadn't thought about it before. He'd seen the phone and known it could be a lifeline for them if Cloud could get to it. He hadn't contemplated the end result if they failed.

One thing Zack knew for sure is that no matter how many times your hope was shattered in the past, it never got any easier to take. It never hurt any less.

The lab assistants came for Cloud quickly. They moved him onto a gurney and prepared to take him away. Zack felt the pain of separation from Cloud even before he'd been taken from the room. Normally, he tried not to let himself think of the outside world or the future because it usually depressed him but he couldn't help thinking now, if—_not if, when!_ Zack scolded himself. When he and Cloud were finally free of their ongoing hell, would he even be able to bear the thought of letting Cloud go to move on with life?


	40. Chapter 39

_Hello, readers! _

_Excellent news! I'm finally caught up on your reviews for this story! And I say 'this story' because as some of you already know, I have submitted the first chapter of the prequel. It is called "**Dreams Incarnate**". So check it out if you haven't already and are interested. It seems to be getting a pretty good response considering I've only just started it so that's awesome! _

_I have an apology to make regarding the last chapter. As one of my faithful reviewers pointed out, there were a few unrealistic elements to it. One had to do with Zack's ability to fight off two men while in a severely weakened condition and the other had to do with a description of Cloud's fever I gave. I said something like "his blood was nearly boiling." Something to that effect anyway. I must apologize for this. I pride myself on writing realistically so naturally I'm disappointed in myself. In my haste to create a chapter I let myself slack off and that shouldn't happen. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you feel I'm not doing this story the justice it deserves. It's quality means a lot to me. _

_Thank you so much again to all you who read and review! :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII_

Chapter XXXIX

Cloud watched the lights on the ceiling go by as he was being brought down to the lab. The wheels on the gurney squeaked a little as they were being turned. He was fearful of what would be awaiting him in just moments. He was almost positive he was headed for an induced coma and time encased in one of the glass cylinders. It was almost worse than any torture he could imagine because it would mean he couldn't get away from _them_. Sephiroth and Jenova. They were always waiting for him in the darkness of the unconscious world. So far Sephiroth had crossed over twice onto the waking plane. The first had been in his and Zack's cell. The second had been in the med-sector. He wasn't sure what had happened but he'd been revived by the doctor and had seen the silver-haired general standing at the foot of his bed. He refused to believe he was going crazy. His visions were too real. He could feel the pain his former hero and his 'mother' inflicted on him to prove they could control him if they wanted to. It wasn't going to happen. He'd die before he'd let that happen.

When he was wheeled into the lab the bright fluorescent hall lights overhead were replaced with the older 40-watt bulbs that were open to the air and covered in a few layers of dust. Cloud had a thought then that it was quite remarkable he and Zack hadn't contracted some sort of infection earlier through some of the procedures that had been conducted in that large room. It wasn't the cleanest.

"Hello, C4." His voice came before his face was visible. The professor came into Cloud's view then, leaning over him. "You're about to go for a little nap. But don't worry, we won't forget about you," he said with a smirk. Cloud was a little surprised he hadn't said anything about the phone he'd tried to steal in the med-sector. Surely the doctor would have told him about that.

One of the lab assistants took hold of his left arm and inserted a needle. He tried to ignore the painful sting. He'd been given so many injections recently his skin was becoming heavily bruised. As his eyes were growing too heavy to hold open, he caught something in his peripheral vision. The general. Smiling as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his broad chest. It was as good as any taunt. He knew Cloud was headed into the darkness that he was able to stalk so well. And there was nothing Cloud could do about it.

000

As slow as the hours had passed, tomorrow came too soon for Zack. He was nowhere near eager to commence with experimental procedures. What was worse, he wasn't in the mood to fight the experimentations anymore. Every time he did, it led in some way to Cloud being hurt. And besides, with Cloud being coma-induced, which no doubt he was, what was the point in fighting anyway? There was no one to prove anything to, no one to stay strong for.

At 10 am he was brought to the lab. Hojo wasted no time in having him sedated and laid out on the exam table. Zack rested his gaze on Cloud, watching him floating limply in the one cylinder. There were several tubes attached to him as well as sensors that were monitoring his vital signs. His hair had started to grow back just as his own had. Soon it would be long enough that it would begin to part itself into those defining spikes once again. His body had continued to grow since he and Zack had been brought out of their two-year coma. But being ill did much to take away from his appearance, making him seem smaller and younger than he was. He was growing up fast, faster than he should have to.

"Doctor Gunan has found evidence that the Jenova cells are indeed present in Z1's bloodstream," Hojo's voice echoed from above. "But unlike in the case of C4, they haven't adhered themselves to anything. It's quite like they're floating around, not doing much of anything. The doctor had no suggestions on how to fix this little problem but fortunately I do."

Zack listened intently and then pondered over what had just been said. The Jenova cells were inside him but for some reason weren't affecting him as they were Cloud. It didn't really make sense to him. Why should Cloud be any different from him?

"Biopsies must be performed on some of the major organs," Hojo went on, drawing back Zack's attention. "We will match the tissue samples with tissue located in the library and grafts, fused with Jenova cells, will be prepared. The procedures involved are not complicated but will be time consuming. Today we will be taking tissue from the kidneys and the lungs. Tomorrow we will continue with the liver and heart."

There were the sounds of scribbling as the assistants were taking down notes. It was only background noise to the sirens going off in his brain. He'd never had a normal biopsy let alone one performed by a lunatic. The idea that Hojo was going to be prodding around his organs struck fear in him.

"I will be performing open biopsies. Each procedure is expected to take about an hour," Hojo explained.

"General anesthesia?" one of the assistants questioned.

"Normally, yes. But not for our specimens. Sedation is enough" the professor responded.

Zack was nervous. Whenever there was a need for anesthesia it meant there would be pain. He had no idea what to expect. All he knew was that it was going to hurt.

It did hurt. More than he imagined it would. Each pain was slightly different. From jabbing to slicing. Tears pushed from his closed eyes as he separated his mind and body and focused on envisioning himself someplace else. Of course, he went to her. He didn't mean to. But he was looking for someplace comfortable and he'd never felt more comforted than when he'd been with Aeris.

His mental retreat only hurt him more. He was still in love with her. He didn't think of her as often as he used to. He had forced himself not to when he'd read her words declaring she was letting him go. But he couldn't do the same. Not yet anyway. He needed to believe there was something on the outside worth reaching for. Freedom just wasn't enough anymore to risk the additional pain failure would bring.

After four and a half hours of physical torture, Zack found himself floating in the cylinder next to Cloud's. Hojo had said it was to make sure infection was prevented. Patches of plastic had been taped over the stitched incisions in his back to keep them from getting wet. The sedatives would be wearing off shortly and he didn't want to be aware when they did. His ability to move was going to making things a lot more painful. Instead, he took advantage of his mental exhaustion to let himself slip into an uneasy sleep.

The following day, just as Hojo had forecasted, Zack found himself lying on the exam table once again, iodine being applied to a place on the right side of his torso. He retreated into himself before he had a chance to feel even the first incision. He thought of Cloud and wondered if he was dreaming at all in his coma-state…

000

Cloud was sweating, head to toe, his sky-blue eyes staring up into the icy grayish-green ones staring back. He was slumped against the wall at his back, a sword lying just out of his reach. The tip of the long blade belonging to General Sephiroth was pressing gently into the base of his neck. The general smirked coldly.

"You're so weak, Cloud," he spoke at last. "Even when given a weapon to fight back with."

"I don't want to fight you," Cloud defended himself.

"And why would that be?" the general questioned interestedly.

"Because I already did it once. And I won," Cloud replied sharply.

"Oh. Is that all?" Sephiroth asked quietly as he began dragging the tip of his sword down the center of Cloud's body slowly, not so hard as to cause any damage. Cloud followed it with his eyes, watching it travel down his chest and over his abdomen before stopping at his waistline. He raised his eyes again to meet the general's.

"Yes," he assured him firmly.

"Hmph," the general muttered before stepping away from Cloud, turning his back on him. Cloud shifted his gaze to the sword lying on the floor to his right. He reached for it cautiously, glancing at the general to see if he was still turned. Just as the tips of his fingers touched the hilt he felt a set of gloved hands grab his shirt and pull him up harshly before slamming his back against the wall. He winced and forced himself to meet Sephiroth's eyes that were glaring at him from mere inches away. "Three and a half years later and you're still pathetic," the general seethed.

"I'm pathetic?" Cloud questioned as he gripped the general's hands uncomfortably. Sephiroth was still holding his shirt firmly, holding him up so his feet were just barely touching the floor. "You betrayed everyone who cared about you. You killed hundreds of men, women, and children in cold blood and you're calling _me _pathetic?"

"Oh, my dear boy, will you never accept the truth?" Sephiroth inquired, running the side of one of his fingers over Cloud's left cheek. "They were merely collateral damage."

"My _mother _was collateral damage?" Cloud responded angrily.

"She was _not _your mother," the general replied simply, releasing his hold on Cloud and stepping back. "Some day you will accept that," he added as he walked off into the shadows, leaving Cloud alone.

000

Zack had spent two days in suspension in his glass tube before Hojo had him brought out and back onto the exam table. He was exhausted, not having had a real night's sleep in days. He'd been too nervous to sleep. Too worried about the day that had finally come. He lay awaiting the upcoming procedure, sedated once again so that he was unable to move. He felt a bit of warmth from the surgical lamp when it was clicked on and pulled over to illuminate his back. His nerves were fluttering throughout his body. He wasn't sure what to expect besides pain. He listened to the sounds of the assistants prepping around him, all the while watching Cloud, wishing to see him awake but grateful that his friend wasn't in his position. He thought for a moment he saw Cloud shudder but his attention was pulled back to himself when he heard Hojo's voice.

"Are we prepped?" he questioned.

"Yes sir," the three assistants responded in unison.

"Good. The iodine please," he directed. Zack felt something moving over the skin on his lower back. His stomach sank as he imagined what would be happening in moments. He had made sure to listen carefully to all that Hojo said about this procedure ahead of time. There had been moments when he wished he hadn't. Maybe then he wouldn't be left with thoughts that were conjuring up a ton of horrid images. "The 21 please," Hojo instructed and one of the assistants picked up something on a tray to hand to him. Zack knew it was a scalpel the second it touched his skin. A burst of pain erupted from the spot on his back and ran through his body, striking his vocal cords that were too sedated to produce any sound louder than a low groan. He could feel his blood seeping out from the incision and running over his side onto the table.

Something was dug into the incision and was used to pry it open. Zack was trying to maintain steady breathing but that much pain was difficult to breathe through. He could barely see through the tears that had built up in his eyes. He didn't want to blink and have them released but the time came when he had no choice. The tears ran from the corners of his eyes, those from his right eye sliding over the bridge of his nose, because of his position on the exam table, and joining those from his left eye as they ran towards the table pressing against his cheek.

He felt everything and though he could easily have screamed till his lungs collapsed, the paralyzing agent he'd been given permitted him nothing but weak whimpers and groans. It was hell. Like being in a prison made of pure agony. If he didn't so desperately want to know what was being done to him he would have separated his mind from his body from the very moment the procedure began.

"We're ready to begin the first kidney graft," Hojo spoke, his words slightly muffled by the mask over his face. Zack felt sick instantly. There was a sharp pinching feeling in his right lower back. It continued for several minutes. He wished he could see what was happening. The uncertainty was more torturous than the pain…

000

"Still searching for a way out?"

Cloud turned his head in the direction the voice had come but didn't expect to see anything. His expectations were met once again. She'd been playing games with him for hours. Never giving him more than a few moments to himself, driving him insane. He'd been running himself in circles trying to find a way out of the shadows. They were in every corner, along every wall. There was only one place they did not touch: a small circle of light in the centre of the never ending room he'd found himself trapped in.

It had taken him a while to work up the courage to venture into the shadows, determined to get himself as far away from her as possible. He realized shortly after that there was no way he could walk himself out. He found he could continue in any direction for an infinite amount of time but as soon as he turned around, the circle of light was no more than ten feet from where he'd just been. It was maddening.

"Why don't you just show yourself?" he questioned in frustration.

"Last time I showed myself, you didn't have the best reaction," the voice replied. "Understandable. My true appearance can be a shock. Perhaps something more familiar would help," she suggested.

Cloud waited, shifting his gaze around the area, waiting for something to happen. Finally, from out of the shadows stepped a woman. The figure of a woman anyway.

"So have you had enough wandering yet? Are you ready to listen to my offer?" the woman he knew to be Jenova inquired. Cloud scoffed.

"What could you possibly have to offer me that I would want from you?" he questioned angrily, keeping himself at a good distance from her.

"Strength. The power to do anything you wish."

"I already have the power to do enough," he retorted. She was silent a few moments before speaking again.

"But you could do so much more," she said ominously. Something seized hold of Cloud then. He was draped in darkness and his movement was restricted.

"Open your eyes," a phantom voice whispered into his ear. He hesitated before complying but slowly, after a moment, he lifted his eyelids and stared through the liquid surrounding him into the room before him. It was all he could do. The rest of him was paralyzed but he barely noticed. He was too focused on the scene ahead of him. Zack lying on Hojo's exam table, his back looking shredded and bloody. His body incapable of moving for the sedatives rushing through him but an expression of agony bound to his face. Zack's eyes met his then. They emitted a heart-wrenching helplessness. Cloud had only seen it a few times before and it was terrifying. He wanted to do something to reassure Zack but he couldn't. Instead, his eyes grew too heavy for him to hold open and they fell shut like guillotines throwing him back into the realm of Jenova. He found himself falling to his knees, a feeling of incredible weakness coupled with sickness coming over him. He vomited and though it wasn't in 'reality', the retching felt the same. He wasn't sobbing, though the tears were falling from his eyes fast.

"Wha-was that real? Is that happening now?" he struggled to speak while gripping his stomach.

"It is," Jenova entered from the shadows once again, still in the form of a human woman.

"Why did you show it to me?" he questioned painfully, still seeing the image of Zack as though it were burned onto his corneas.

"Call it motivation," she replied.

"Motivation?"

"To do what's _right_. Don't you want to help your friend?"

"Of course. But what the hell am I supposed to do?" Cloud responded sharply.

"Accept me. Let me help _you_."

Cloud released a dry laugh. "You're using Zack to get to me. Well fuck you!" he spat. Jenova stepped up in front of him and crouched, placing her hand under his chin and tilting his head towards hers.

"I am not the enemy, Cloud. I want to embrace you. To guide you, to make sure you're taken care of. Don't you want that?"

Cloud studied her eyes. They weren't here real eyes but the soft brown ones of some apparition she was using as a costume.

"What do you want from me in return," he inquired after a few moments of heavy silence.

The apparition smiled. "Your submission. Like that of a son to his mother," she spoke simply.

Cloud hardened his expression before declaring a firm "No." Her smile faded.

"Perhaps a trial is in order," she suggested as she rose and took a few steps away from him.

"What do you mean?" Cloud questioned hesitantly.

"A chance to help yourself and your friend. A chance to see just what you're capable of," she explained. Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"And the catch?" he asked.

"I give you part of me…you give me part of yourself."

"Give you what?" Cloud questioned uneasily.

"Why don't you let me worry about that?" she suggested smugly. "Nothing vital, I promise."

For one body-clenching second, Cloud considered it. Then he shook his head and declared another firm "No" before turning himself away from Jenova.

"Well. Think about it," she spoke softly before he sensed her leave, retreating back into the shadows of his mind. He didn't want to think about the offer but he couldn't stop himself. The image of Zack kept reappearing in front of his eyes over and over. He didn't know what he should do.

000

"The grafting on the kidneys and lungs has been completed successfully," Hojo spoke as he made his last stitch to close the final incision on Zack's back. "The specimen must be monitored carefully to make sure the grafted tissue is not rejected. If the grafts are received then we can commence with the procedure on the heart and liver."

Zack released a shaky breath, opening his eyes slowly to stare through the haze in front of him as the assistants were cleaning up. He felt drained and heavy though his back alive with ache. It had been a long, painful day and he didn't want to be touched anymore. He wanted to be left alone, someplace warm and dark. Someplace he could sleep until he could wake up and feel like himself again.

Two of the assistants lifted him from the table then and dragged him toward the nearby empty cylinder, attaching various censors and inserting several tubes before hauling him into the tube and attaching an air mask to his face. He was left alone finally, waiting for the water to fill the enclosure and make him weightless. He turned his eyes toward Cloud. He hadn't forgotten what he'd seen hours earlier. He was still not sure it had actually happened but he'd believe anything at that point. Cloud's eyes had been open and staring his way as the grafting procedure had been happing. It was only for a moment. But Zack could almost swear he'd seen those eyes looking his way. If what he'd seen had been real, he wasn't sure of what it meant. Cloud was comatose as far as he knew. Did comatose people open their eyes? He almost hoped so because if they didn't, that meant something else was happening to Cloud.

000

Cloud felt Jenova's presence. He didn't need to turn to know she was there. He'd been waiting for her, pondering over his decision repeatedly for hours. There was no decision anymore. He'd made it. There was only one choice in his mind.

Before she could say a word he spoke first, whispering one thing. "Fine." In response, the darkness broke away suddenly for a bright green light that had him shutting his eyes tightly. He felt himself being pulled toward it before blacking out.

Zack woke in his cylinder to the sounds of some sort of commotion. He opened his heavy eyes and tried to push away his grogginess to understand what was happening. Hojo and his assistants were crowding around Cloud's cylinder. It took Zack a moment to understand why they were acting so frantic. Cloud was displaying no vital signs. The cylinder was being drained of its water, Cloud being held suspended by the air mask on his face.

When the tube was finally drained one of the lab assistants punched in the entry code on the key pad next to the cylinder and the glass panel at the front hissed and slid open. They removed the mask from Cloud's face and pulled his limp body onto the stone floor, ready to begin resuscitation. Surprisingly, it was not needed.

"Pulse has returned," one assistant called out to Hojo as he pressed two fingers to Cloud's neck.

"Bring him to the table," Hojo ordered. A moment later, Cloud was laid out on the cold metal slab, still unmoving. Hojo took a penlight from his lab coat and leaned over him, using his fingers to pry his right eyelids open. "Pupils are dilated and unresponsive," he remarked as he shone the light into his eye. His pupil remained large, the iris of his eye thin but glowing brightly with mako. Suddenly, the large black circle constricted, shrinking fast to a tiny dot. It surprised the professor, but before he could make a move, Cloud's arm shot up and he clutched onto Hojo's neck. As the professor pulled back, Cloud sat up fast and grabbed his neck with his other hand as well. He squeezed hard and Hojo dropped the penlight in his hand, closing his hands around Cloud's wrists and trying to pull away from his grasp. "Do something morons!" he hissed out to his staff that had been watching in shock.

Zack watched from his tube, wishing he could see more clearly through the water obscuring his view. Cloud was okay. Better than okay. He was attacking Hojo! One of the assistants was trying to wrench Cloud's hands from the professor's neck while another two where grabbing at Cloud's torso, trying to pull him back. No doubt Hojo was wishing he'd had more assistants in that day. The assistants were digging their nails into Cloud's skin, hard enough to draw blood as they were trying to pry him off Hojo but Cloud seemed possessed. He wasn't feeling anything besides the professor's neck in his hands.

One of the assistants left the scene to retrieve the goons that were waiting in the hall. Hojo's face had reddened and he was nearly unconscious by the time one of the goons grabbed as much of Cloud's hair with one hand as he could manage and closed his other one around his neck, pulling him back while the other goon managed to pry his fingers from Hojo's skin.

The professor gasped for air then, bracing himself on the exam table in front of him. Cloud fought against the goon holding him and managed to break away for just a moment to deliver a punch to the side of Hojo's face, knocking him to the ground. He wasn't finished. He used the back of his head to butt the goon behind him, breaking his nose. He turned toward him and pushed him hard, watching him stumble back. A hand fell on his shoulder then. He grabbed it fast, turning and twisting hard to break the fingers of the second goon who released a cry of pain in response.

Cloud grabbed a bottle of solution off a nearby tray and smashed it on the edge of the exam table before jamming the busted piece he held in his hand into the goon's neck. He was tackled from behind then by the fist goon and found himself falling against the exam table. He managed to turn his back against it just in time to see a heavy fist headed toward him. He turned his head out of instinct to protect his nose from being busted but the hit landed on his left orbital bone hard. He was going to have one hell of a black eye over it.

Hands were grabbing for his arms, pinning them over his head as one of the assistants was frantically trying to prepare an injection. He felt the needle enter his flesh but never gave the assistant a chance to put pressure on the pump. He lifted his legs and kicked the goon in front of him hard, pushing him back. Without the goon's tight hold on him, he managed to slip from the grip of those on the other side of the table and pulled the syringe from his neck before launching himself at the goon ahead of him. In one swift move he jammed the syringe into the goon's chest and injected its contents into his bloodstream. The goons were down, one bleeding out on the floor while the other was sedated.

The assistants fled the room with Hojo, locking Cloud into the lab. Zack saw his friend turn toward him then. He observed Zack a moment before scanning the room. His eyes fell to a fire extinguisher on the wall near the door. He pulled it from the wall and moved to Zack's cylinder. Zack watched him as he advanced. He felt suddenly that he wasn't looking at his friend anymore. He was different somehow. There was no emotion in his eyes. It just wasn't Cloud. Zack knew what Cloud was about to try to do but it still shocked him when the fire extinguisher hit the glass the first time. He didn't know what he'd expected to happen, maybe for the glass to shatter but of course it was far too thick. There was a 'TINK' sound from inside the tube and a small mark on the outside where it had hit but that was it. Cloud didn't seem discouraged. He lifted the extinguisher again and again, slamming it against the glass and Zack watched as a small web of cracks began. Some of the glass was chipping away on the outside, some of it hitting Cloud as it flew off toward him.

Zack thought for sure Cloud was going to tire himself out from the amount of effort he was exerting trying to free him but each time he threw the extinguisher at the glass he seemed a bit stronger, a bit more determined.

Water had begun seeping through the cracks and down the front of the cylinder. Cloud threw all his weight into the extinguisher as he hurled it toward the glass. His arms were burning but he ignored them. Zack did something then that he regretted almost instantly. He got excited. Excited over the thought that maybe, just maybe an escape was around the corner. And of course his hope was shot down when he saw the door to the room open and several figures step in. It was hard to make them out from the distance and Cloud in front of him. Cloud didn't realize right away that there were others present. One of them yelled something and Cloud turned just a split second before Zack heard the sound of a gunshot. Nothing could mask that sound. Not the glass, not the water, not his pulse pounding in his ears.

Cloud stumbled a little from the force of the bullet hitting his right arm as he was turning but he recovered fast, brandishing the fire extinguisher and ready to continue the fight. He released something of a battle cry that was cut short by the sounds of another two shots. The extinguisher fell from Cloud's grip then and hit the floor as his body swung from the force of the hits into Zack's cylinder. Zack watched him wide-eyed and helpless as he slid toward the floor, leaving smears of blood on the glass.


	41. Chapter 40

_Hey everyone, sorry for the delay on the chapter. Life stuff's been limiting my freetime. I was going to appologize for the chapter being somewhat shorter than previous ones but it actually ended up being not that much shorted. However, expect that future chapters will be a little shorter (around 7 pages instead of 9) because I've got a ton of stuff to do this month and January. I'm going to try to keep updating 'Dreams Incarnate' weekly as well but it may end up being bi-weekly for the next few months till things settle a little. Also, I will be getting back to you shortly on your reviews. I truly appologize for being such a slow ass :) _

_Cheers_

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII_

Chapter XL

Zack's heart sank but his anger rose as he pounded the glass with his fist, screaming into the air mask covering his mouth and nose. His terror-stricken eyes were locked onto Cloud's crumpled form lying on the floor right outside his glass cell. Blood was seeping from his bullet wounds fast, running into the cracks in the stone floor.

A shadow fell over his friend and Zack raised his eyes to meet the gaze of someone he wasn't expecting, though he wasn't entirely surprised to see him. Tseng. He was sure he'd seen him the night Syrus had tried to get he and Cloud out of the mansion, but it had been dark and he'd been more concerned with the thought of escape than anything else. He held the Turk's gaze for only a moment before Tseng turned his attention to Cloud, placing his weapon in its holster before crouching to check Cloud's pulse. Reaching into his jacket, he retrieved a cell phone and dialed in a number. Zack could just barely make out his words as he spoke.

"The target's down…No, but he's in need of medical attention...That's entirely your prerogative, professor."

That's all that was said before the Turk shut his phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He avoided Zack's eyes for several moments while one of Hojo's assistants re-entered the lab and retrieved something from a cabinet. When he did finally look at Zack, there was little in his expression to suggest he even knew him. But somewhere in the depths of his vastly dark eyes the recognition was there. Zack pleaded with him silently, trying to convey through his own eyes somehow just how desperate he was to be helped. Tseng saw that. And like the faithful servant to the president and the Shinra organization he was, he turned his back on Zack and headed out of the room, taking long, deliberate strides away from one of the mansion's darkest secrets.

At the moment the Turk had turned his back, Zack slammed the palm of his right hand against the glass, the pressure forcing more water through the cracks Cloud had made with the fire extinguisher. The water was running over the floor, mixing with and diluting his friend's blood. Hojo's lab assistant was injecting something into Cloud's wounds. He'd seen it before. It was a clotting agent. The other two assistants entered the room seconds later. They lifted Cloud from the floor and began hauling him out of the lab. Zack watched after them. As they entered the hall he saw them make a right before disappearing. His stomach plummeted. They weren't taking him to the med-sector.

Anxiety gripped him then. _Why aren't they taking him to the med-sector? What the hell's going on? Is Hojo just going to let him die? _The questions were ripping through his mind. He tried to calm himself, telling himself that if Hojo was going to let him die he wouldn't have instructed his assistant to administer the clotting agent. Still, he was panicking. He began kicking at the cracked glass in front of him, trying to bust his way through. The only thing he achieved was bringing more pain to his heavily bruised and weak body. He'd just been through major surgery and his body wanted nothing but rest. His mind, on the other hand, was losing it. The last time he'd seen his friend get shot it had been in a simulation. It was terrifying then and it was more terrifying now. If Cloud died now, there was no coming back.

000

Cloud awoke to the feeling that his arms were being pulled from their sockets. It was a feeling he'd experienced before. It was a quick indication for him of where he was before he had even opened his eyes. The Hanger. He instantly regretted allowing himself to register the condition of his body. He was struck with a tidal wave of pain. He groaned through gritted teeth and tried to grasp hold of the chain he was suspended by in an attempt to ease some of the pressure on the joints in his shoulders. It was a futile attempt. His bandaged fingers were too cramped from lack of blood flow, they barely moved. He didn't know how long he'd been hanging unconscious but it was long enough to afflict him with more agony than he ever thought possible. Beyond that, the bullet wounds in his arm, shoulder, and the area beneath his collar bone had not been treated. He was sure the bullets were still lodged in his flesh.

He looked down over his body. He was naked and stained with dried blood. Slowly, the events that had led to his current condition came back to him. But they were hazy, like those of a dream. In fact, he could hardly believe what he'd done. He was angry before saddened that nothing had come from his aggressive actions. He was angry because it's not the outcome he'd expected. Jenova had led him to believe he would be able to help Zack and himself if he agreed to her little trade. He still didn't know what it was he was giving up in return. Now, he was worse off than before. Hojo was going to be pissed, he knew that much. Judging by the state of himself at that moment, it looked as if the professor was already taking out his anger. He didn't doubt for a second it would get worse.

Back in the lab, Zack had been moved into the second—and now the only usable—cylinder. He hadn't seen Hojo since he'd fled after Cloud attacked him hours earlier but he returned soon enough with developing bruises on his face and neck. He looked over the damage that had been caused to the one cylinder. He seemed far from impressed. He glared at Zack as though he were somehow to blame for what had happened. Without saying a word, he headed to his desk and began writing. Zack had the very uneasy feeling that he was planning something.

000

In the heavy darkness of the Hanger, Cloud shivered against the terribly chill air surrounding him. His shaking only intensified his agony. He'd been waiting for someone to come yell at him, or discipline him, particularly Hojo. But no one came. He hadn't meant to let himself pass into unconsciousness, for he knew what would be awaiting him. But he hadn't had much of a choice. He was exhausted, drained of all possible energy. He hadn't realized he had passed out until he was staring through a window, looking out on a field of wheat. He placed his finger tips against the glass, feeling its cool surface under his strangely uninjured fingers. _Dreams are such sweet torture_, he thought to himself as he kept his gaze on the millions of strands of gold growing in the field in his view. They shifted lightly in response to a gentle breeze.

"Cloud," a soft voice spoke from behind him. His heart skipped as he recognized the voice. It was the only voice he ever wished to hear again. It brought tears to his eyes immediately. He turned slowly, afraid of what he would see. He was met with a gentle smile and bright blue eyes, mirror images of his own. One word fell from his lips before he sunk to his knees on the hardwood floor beneath him. _Mother_.

The smile waned on her beautiful face over his response to her. She stepped forward quickly and lowered herself to his level, reaching forward to place her hands on the sides of his face. She observed him with deep concern. "Cloud, what is it? What's wrong?" she questioned quickly. He couldn't speak. There were no words that could express all he wanted to say to her. He lowered his head as he burst into soft sobs. His mother pulled him into her then and wrapped her arms around him. He gripped her tightly. "Cloud, you're shaking," she uttered quietly, rocking him a little with her.

"I…I-I'm so sorry," he stuttered out through his sobs.

"Don't be silly. Sorry for what?" she asked as she continued to rock him.

"For everything," he responded before drawing in a deep breath. "I never should have left you."

"Nonsense. If you hadn't left, you could never become what you were meant to be."

Cloud calmed himself, pushing his emotions back down as his mother's last statement echoed in his mind. There was something not right about it. His mother wouldn't have said something like that. "Wh-what did you say?" he inquired shakily as he pulled back slightly out of her embrace.

"You were meant to achieve great things, Cloud," she explained. "Bigger than this world."

Cloud stared back at her, feeling his heart breaking as he realized the truth of what was in front of him. He pulled back from her further, lifting himself to his feet, avoiding her confused and questioning expression.

"What's wrong?" she asked him then.

"You're not my mother," he replied quickly. She laughed lightly as if he were joking but her expression fell as she realized he was serious.

"Cloud, what are you talking about? Of course I'm your mother," she claimed eagerly.

Fury exploded in him as he stared down at her. "You are NOT my mother!" he shouted angrily and watched as her expression turned to one of hurt. He turned his back on her, unable to see her looking that way.

"Cloud, please. I don't understand. Just tell me what's wrong," she pleaded as she got to her feet. She touched his shoulder and he turned on her, pushing her against the wall roughly.

"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!" he screamed at her. "Get out of her, Jenova! Don't you use her as a fucking shield!" he ordered furiously.

His mother look-alike raised a hand to his forehead fast and a hot burst of pain erupted in his head, sending him stumbling back away from her. He gripped his forehead as he cried out and shut his eyes tightly in response to the pain. Leaning against the opposite wall, he felt the pain begin to dissipate and he was able to open his eyes. His 'mother' was no longer present. It was Jenova in her true form.

"You evil bitch," he muttered through heavy breaths.

"Come now," Jenova replied. "I provide you the opportunity for reunion and this is your response?"

"I don't want your goddamn reunion!" Cloud spat back at her. "Don't you _ever _hide behind her again," he warned.

"Or what?" Jenova challenged.

"You lied to me," he accused, dodging her question.

"Oh? How so?" she inquired interestedly.

"You told me if I gave something up to you, you would help me and Zack."

She laughed before responding. "Oh, Cloud. That is not what I offered." Cloud stared back at her, not understanding. "I offered you the _chance _to help yourself and your friend. I never promised anything more than that."

Cloud's mouth fell open in disbelief. His anger rose again after a few seconds. "Fuck you! You knew what I was expecting to get out of the deal. You took advantage of that!"

Jenova stared back at him for a few moments before pushing off the wall behind her and moving toward him. She stopped when she was in front of him. "Do you really think I would help you complete such a feat without taking something much more substantial in return?" she questioned icily.

Cloud glared back at her, not knowing what to say. As she turned her back on him he spoke up. "Just what _did _you take?" he asked hesitantly.

"I told you it was nothing vital. Why should I even tell you? You don't even know it's gone. Be happy to be ignorant," she suggested. "You're really missing the whole point of the demonstration I provided you with," she continued after a moment.

"And what the hell was the point supposed to be?"

"To show you just what you are capable of. The strength you possess. How could you not want to take advantage of that?"

Cloud exhaled forcefully. "Because it's unreal. It's inhuman."

Jenova chuckled. She moved close to him, staring him down, her hollow, pupiless eyes burning into him. She spoke softly, close enough that Cloud could feel her breath on him."Oh, dear sweet, Cloud," she said barely above a whisper. Her following words cut him deeply. They seared themselves into his brain so brutally he knew they'd be with him forever. "That's what you are now. From now on. That's all you'll ever be."

Cloud was pulled back to consciousness suddenly, though it was not unwelcomed. He was thankful to get away from Jenova. He'd been injected with something to revive him, he realized as he opened his eyes to see one of the professor's lab assistants stepping back with an emptied syringe in his hands. There was a cart adorned with supplies near the assistant. Doctor Gunan was present, as was Hojo himself. Hojo glared at him from behind those thick, dark-rimmed glasses of his. The left side of his face was swollen and bruised. It sparked a tiny bit of satisfaction in Cloud knowing he'd done that to him.

"I don't know if I should be disappointed in you, C4," Hojo spoke at last. "You're finally seizing hold of your potential, but your motivations seem to be a problem. The word 'potential' sparked thoughts of Jenova in Cloud's head. "If only you could accept your place here," the professor added. Cloud laughed aloud at Hojo's statement. It brought a hardened expression to the man's face as he held out his hand to his assistant who placed a pair of forceps in it. Hojo didn't hesitate before jamming the forceps into the wound beneath Cloud's collarbone, digging into his flesh deeply to retrieve the first of three bullets. Cloud wasn't able to stay silent as the pieces of lead were being dug out of him, as much as he would have liked to, but after his second cry of pain he began to laugh. He didn't know why. And once he started, he found it hard to stop.

Hojo demanded several times that he stop but he wouldn't comply, even as the professor purposely made the extraction of the bullets from his shoulder and arm as painful as possible. Fed up, Hojo grabbed his jaw and held it tightly as he spoke his harsh threats. "Stop now, or I'll cut out your tongue!" he warned. "You don't need it for the plans I have for you." Cloud stopped his laughter. He narrowed his eyes as he stared down at the professor.

With a firm tone he responded. "Do it."

A look of mild shock came over Hojo. Clearly it wasn't the response he was expecting. He recovered quickly, however. "Yes, perhaps I will, and then afterward I'll cut out Z1's as well. That should reduce his chatter. Don't know why I never did it before…"

That statement got him his desired reaction. He'd been looking for that spark of fear in Cloud's eyes. That indication that he still had control over his specimens.

"Leave Zack alone," Cloud muttered uneasily, his jaw still being clutched hard by the professor.

Hojo chuckled. "Such a predictable reaction. You are both such good lab rats," he mused. "But I think I've had enough of such predictability. And I think I may know something that will help."

With that said, Hojo released his hold on Cloud's jaw and moved for the door. He paused as he passed the doctor. "Finish the repairs. Do what you need to to keep him from contracting infection but he doesn't leave this room," he instructed before departing.

Gunan cleansed and stitched Cloud's wounds, which wasn't an easy task given the position Cloud was in, suspended from the ceiling. When the doctor was finished he gave Cloud several injections before leaving the room. Cloud was left in darkness once again. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he noticed the cart of supplies had been left in with him, an indication that the doctor would probably be back at some point. He turned his gaze upward to inspect the chain holding him suspended. His cuffs were secured to the chain with a heavy carabiner. He looked down at his feet. Only the tips of his big toes brushed against the stone floor. It wasn't enough to help complete his task. No, it all depended on the strength of his arms. Strength that was seriously lacking for more than one reason, one being that the blood had rushed from his arms hours earlier, making them nearly inoperable.

Still, he had to try to make them work. He began with his hands, forcing them open and closed, trying to get as much movement out of them as possible. When he was sure he wasn't going to get anything more out of his joints he reached for the suspension chain, gripping it in his hands as tightly as he could. He made a trial lift, attempting to pull himself towards the ceiling. The attempt sent shockwaves of pain through his injured shoulder and arm that had him crying out and releasing the chain. His body dropped the few centimeters he had lifted himself and resulted in the cuffs digging hard into the flesh of his wrists.

Groaning and panting, he pushed himself to try again. It took him a moment to work up the nerve again but soon he was gripping the suspension chain and preparing to pull himself upwards once again. It took an unbelievable amount of effort for him to keep himself from crying out as he raised himself upwards. With the chain of his cuffs slackened, he struggled to open the carabiner and remove the chain. He felt his grip slipping and the chain becoming taught again. He knew this was his last chance. There was no way he would be able to make a third attempt.

Clenching his jaw tightly he used the last ounce of strength he could conjure to pull himself up a few last centimeters. He pulled the cuff chain from the carabiner just as his arms gave out, sending him down. He hit the floor on his knees and elbows before falling onto his side. He bit back the need to express his pain vocally as the blood was rushing back into his arms, though he couldn't stop the hot tears from springing to his eyes.

He could easily have passed out where he lay from sheer exhaustion but he forced himself to focus and stay awake, pushing himself toward the cart near the door so he could inspect its contents. There was a stack of towels, though none of them were large enough for him to cover himself with. There were numerous bottles of liquid, all with long names he didn't recognize, and packages of individually wrapped syringes. There was a larger bottle that wasn't labeled. He suspected it was water though there was no way to be sure. Twisting off the cap he sniffed it cautiously. It was odorless. He was so thirsty he barely cared if it was poison and not water but he still taste-tested a small amount before downing the liquid hungrily.

When he'd drained the container he tossed it to the side carelessly and began searching for something to use to pick the lock on his cuffs. His search turned up nothing but bandages, antiseptic, and a few surgical tools. He resolved to try picking the lock with a syringe. He was almost certain he would have succeeded if he'd not been interrupted. He stood frozen as the door to the room was unlocked, not knowing what he should do, but as one of the lab assistants appeared in the doorway, his eyes focused on where Cloud should have been hanging from the ceiling, he pushed the cart toward him hard and fast, knocking him backwards. A goon entered then and though Cloud did his best to avoid him he soon found himself face down on the floor, a knee pressing down into the center of his back to hold him still.

A set of shoes stopped directly in front of Cloud's face and he glanced upwards to see the professor glaring down at him. "Chain him in cell 6," he ordered the goon who complied promptly, pulling Cloud to his feet and dragging him off down the D-Wing to a room he remembered well. Its floor was still stained with remnants of the illness he'd had at the time. He could still hear his recorded screams echoing faintly through the wall from the cell next door. But this time was different. This time it was only he who was being punished.

When he was safely secured to the back wall, Hojo entered the cell followed by his assistant who held something in his hands. A transmitter helmet. Immediately, Cloud thought of the simulation he'd experienced in that room once before. It struck fear in him thinking he may be about to go through all that again. Hojo seemed to detect his fear. A smile formed on his face as he looked down at Cloud.

"You seem frightened," he pointed out. Cloud said nothing. "How intriguing," he added and signaled to his assistant to proceed.

"No," Cloud breathed as the assistant moved toward him with the helmet. He struggled in his bonds and evaded the helmet as best he could. The goon stepped forward then and gripped his head tightly, keeping it from moving. "No!" Cloud repeated as the helmet came down over his head and blocked out his vision. He wasn't given any other chance to protest. The program began almost immediately. He found himself standing in an empty room except for a sword lying on the floor near him. He stepped toward it cautiously.

From behind him he heard a door open and shut. He turned his head and found himself looking upon Zack. Feeling relieved instantly, he let himself relax as he faced his friend.

"Zack, thank God—" he began but was interrupted.

"Pick up your sword," Zack demanded, motioning to the weapon at Cloud's feet with his own sword. Cloud shifted his eyes from the sword in front of him to Zack. _He can't be serious…_Cloud thought as he stared back at him. His expression was dark. It wasn't like Zack at all.

"W-what?" he questioned in confusion. "Zack, I'm not fighting you."

Zack's expression seemed to darken even further. "_Pick up _the sword, Cloud," he commanded. His tone was incredibly cold. Cloud stepped back from the weapon in front of him. He shook his head, refusing to comply. "Last chance," Zack said as he raised his blade higher in preparation for a vertical cut. Cloud held fast, refusing to fight his best friend whether he was the real Zack or not. Zack's violet eyes narrowed before he brought his blade down toward Cloud releasing a loud kiai. Cloud dodged the attack instinctively. Acting a split second later would have been too late. He looked on Zack in shock, not believing his friend had just made an offensive move on him.

It didn't stop there, Zack thrust toward him. Again, he narrowly avoided the blade, twice as he had to duck to miss a horizontal cut. He stared at the blade lying within a few feet of him. There was no choice. If he was going to keep himself alive he needed a weapon to block with. Reaching forward fast, he grabbed the blade that had been supplied to him and used it to block an oncoming blow. "Zack, please, don't make me fight you!" he begged as he pushed back on Zack's blade bearing down on his.

"You can fight or die, makes no difference to me," Zack replied coldly. As much as the statement hurt, Cloud forced himself to become determined and focused. It wasn't necessary that he fight, only that he block Zack's attacks. His logic was flawed in that he didn't consider how much energy it took to defend himself and how there was nothing stopping Zack from continuing his onslaught of attacks for as long as the simulation went on. He grew weak and tired after not much time at all. He was also nowhere near as advanced as Zack was.

He realized too late he had left himself open to attack as he felt the pommel on the hilt of Zack's sword hit him in the chest, stealing the air from his chest. His legs were kicked out from under him before he had a chance to recover, sending him onto his back on the floor. Zack kicked the blade from his weak grasp as he lay panting and waiting for the final inevitable strike. His eyes were closed but he could feel the tip of Zack's sword press into his chest. He opened his eyes slowly and stared up at his simulated friend.

"You're a failure, Cloud. You always were," Zack claimed as he pressed the tip of his weapon a little harder into his chest, drawing blood. He groaned in pain. "Say it," Zack demanded then. Cloud stared back at him in confusion.

"Wh-at?" he questioned hesitantly.

"Say that you're a failure," Zack clarified. Cloud shook his head slowly. _How can I say something you made me promise I'd never say again? _Cloud thought painfully. Zack set down his sword then and reached for something at his side. He held it up for Cloud to see. It was a knife. Cloud's breath hitched in his throat before he managed to speak.

"What are you doing?" he questioned fearfully.

"I'm going to help convince you," Zack responded with a smirk as he ran the tip of the knife vertically down Cloud's left cheek.


	42. Chapter 41

_Hey everyone! I'm sorry this chapter is coming out later than it should have. I had a lot of stuff to get done for work and school and I didn't think it would take me as long as it has. Actually, I set aside some school work to write this because if I didn't spend at least a little time writing every other day I'd probably blow up. Anyway, I'll be getting the replies to your reviews on the last chapter to you shortly. Also, I'm going to be on holidays soon so hopefully I'll be able to get three or four chapters out quickly over those few weeks. I have the outlines of all the chapters written up to the end of the story so it's just a matter of writing them. I can tell you that I will be going on a vacation for the month of February and probably most of March so I doubt I'll be submitting anything over that time period. Because of this, I am aiming to have this story complete by the first week of Februray. Very exciting I think. But also sad. I've really enjoyed writing this story. But I'm excited for the sequel. So it'll be alright. Well, you've waiting enough so on to the chapter! _

_**oh sidenote. There was a little mix-up in the title of the chapters. I believe I had last chapter titled as 41 on the uploader but I changed it and this one will now be 41. So hopefully that doesn't mess things up for you in the system if you want to give a review. I know there was a problem like that once before. eep. _

_Cheers guys!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII_

XLI

The simulated version of Cloud's best friend never faltered as he began to apply enough pressure to the blade in his hand to cut through the pale skin of Cloud's left cheek, drawing a line of red as Cloud squeezed his eyes shut and tried to pay no mind to the pain. He knew it wasn't really Zack. He _knew _that. And yet, every time he looked into those blue eyes, the colour of violets in the sun, he could see nothing but his friend. This was by far the cruelest thing Hojo had committed himself to.

"Open your eyes," Zack commanded. Cloud refused at first, thinking that if he imagined it was someone else hurting him he could handle it a lot easier. But when a hand clutched his neck and squeezed fiercely his eyes were startled open. "Good boy," Zack said softly, removing his hand from Cloud's neck to stroke his hair. "Now, are you going to tell me what I want to hear?" he questioned as he pressed the tip of the knife into the cut he'd made on Cloud's cheek, dragging it slow through the line of blood. "Or do I need to show you?"

"Please…" Cloud uttered softly, not knowing what he could possibly say to diffuse the situation. Admitting to what his simulated friend was asking of him was not an option. But reasoning with a person that didn't technically exist wasn't really an option either.

"I guess I have my answer," Zack responded. Before he had a chance to make another move with the knife, Cloud kneed him in the gut before kicking him backwards. He seized the opportunity to grab hold of the sword lying not far from his grasp before scrambling to his feet and heading fast for the door to the room. Zack was laughing at him as he threw the door open and raced out into the hallway outside. The hall reminded him of the one in the D-Wing of the mansion. Its walls were stone and the air was damp and musty smelling. He didn't know where he was headed, he just wanted to get away from what could only be thought of as the anti-Zack. He found himself in a maze of rooms, each with multiple doors, leading to more rooms or hallways. He thought for sure there'd be no way Zack was going to catch up to him.

He was wrong.

As he passed through something of a large boiler room and pulled open a door on the opposite side of the room, he found himself nearly colliding with anti-Zack. His heart leapt and his stomach plummeted as he stepped back from the doorway quickly, holding his sword out ahead of him. Zack did something unexpected then. He held his hands up in front of him and a look of concern came over his face.

"Cloud, whoa, it's just me," he spoke softly. Cloud stared back at him, uncertain about what he should make of the situation but unwilling to let his guard down. "What's wrong? What happened to you?" Zack went on, stepping forward a few small steps.

"Stop! Stay where you are!" Cloud demanded, his arm shaking a little as he kept the sword aimed at his supposed friend. Zack halted.

"It's me, buddy!" he claimed with a bright smile. "I've been looking all over this stupid simulation for you," he added as he lowered his hands. Cloud was silent, his thoughts racing. He wasn't sure he should believe what was in front of him.

"Is…is it really you, Zack?" he questioned hesitantly. Zack looked back at him with renewed concern.

"Duh. Who else would it be?" he replied as he moved forward. "Did you get in a fight? What happened to your face?" he inquired then. Cloud lowered the sword in his hand slowly, still feeling a bit uneasy. He regretted it instantly as Zack grabbed his hand tightly and threw his head forward at the same time. Cloud was hit with an incredible pain in his forehead and the bridge of his nose as he fell back. Zack yanked the sword from his grip as he was stumbling. He threw it off to the side before advancing. His face was serious and determined once again.

Cloud felt the blood running from his nose as he tried to compose himself before he received a punch to his face and another to the left side of his rib cage. He wasn't given much time to recover but he managed to block a few of the blows that came raining down on him. His face took most of the beating and an unfortunate hit to his temple seemed to knock his senses from him. He was barely able to keep himself up on his hands and knees as he tried to shake the consciousness back into his head. He hadn't been so stupid as to not try and fight back. He tried but in his heart he didn't want to hit his friend, simulated or not. And Zack was a better fighter than he was. Hojo had certainly done a good job at creating an accurate replica of him and his skills.

With the room now spinning in front of his eyes, Cloud barely noticed Zack rummaging through the room for something. A strong hand grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him backwards and against a pipe. His arms were pulled around the pipe and his wrists were bound before he was able to comprehend what was happening.

"Shame on you, Cloud," Zack spoke up. "You trust so easily. Just more proof of what you really are." He took hold of the front of Cloud's shirt. In mere moments he had torn it down the centre, exposing Cloud's chest. Cloud's eyes had been closed as he thought about simply letting himself pass out but they shot open in awareness when the cold steel of a blade began to slice through the first few layers of skin on his upper chest. He didn't bother to restrict his vocal cords from making the pain he felt known. The pain went on and on, seemingly endless, as the cuts seemed to be. The cuts were spelling out a word. _Failure_.

It didn't stop there. More cuts were made, spelling the word out again and again while Cloud cried out and the blood coated his torso. Zack demanded repeatedly that Cloud admit to being a failure but he refused to comply.

"How many times do I need to carve it into you before you admit to it?!" the frustrated Zack shouted at him. His response was a shaky exhale. Fed up, Zack wiped the blood from the knife blade in his hand on Cloud's pants before sheathing it. Crouched in front of Cloud, he forced him to meet his eyes before speaking again. "Perhaps you need some time to think," he spoke quietly. "I'm going to leave you to your thoughts. But I'll be back. And you better be willing to cooperate." He stood straight then before heading toward the door, glancing back once and smirking before leaving Cloud on his own.

000

"It appears Z1's body is not rejecting the foreign tissue grafts to his organs," Hojo mused, rubbing his chin as he stared through the thick glass of the cylinder in front of him, his dark eyes focused on Zack. "And you were so skeptical, Doctor," he added as he threw a glance at Gunan standing next to him. Zack was listening though his eyes were closed and he feigned sleep. He could have slept. He was tired enough. But he was desperate for any amount of information he could pick up coming his way. It had been what he guessed was close to 24 hours since Cloud had been removed from the lab and taken down to the D-Wing. He felt sick every time he thought of what Cloud could be going through. There were endless possibilities for torture where Hojo was concerned.

He was not without worry over himself however. Over the passing hours, the dull aching in his body where he'd been cut and operated on and then sew up again had been steadily increasing in intensity. He felt a strange discomfort all over. He chalked it up to being exhausted, hungry, and having just had more surgery than he'd ever thought he'd have in one lifetime.

"In the morning, I want to move him back to a regular cell, to see how he does outside of such a strictly-controlled environment," Hojo spoke up again.

"The risk of infection will increase outside of the tank," the doctor warned.

"Then you best make sure he stays adequately medicated."

"Sir!" one of the professor's lab assistants came charging into the lab. Hojo and Dr. Gunan turned toward him. "There's a problem with the other specimen," he explained.

Zack's eyes shot open then upon hearing something to do with who he assumed to be Cloud. He pressed himself closer to the glass in order to hear better. Unfortunately, nothing else was said. Hojo and the doctor left the room with the assistant, leaving him alone to wonder what was going on.

000

About an hour earlier, not long after the anti-Zack had left, Cloud passed into unconsciousness. The true unconsciousness where even the simulation couldn't reach. But that dark inner world was not without its monsters. Jenova was waiting for him. He tried to avoid her but there was no place to go. Just as he suspected she had an offer to make.

"Just say the word, and you'll be free from this false world of agony," she urged.

He didn't want to give in to her. Didn't want to give up some other part of himself just to save himself some pain. But being tortured by Zack, whether it was his real friend or not, was killing him. If he ever wanted to be able to look Zack in the face again without fear he had to get out of that simulation.

Jenova was looking at him expectantly. He inhaled deeply before muttering a quiet "Okay." She smiled and began walking toward him. She seemed to dematerialize then and was gone in an instant, reforming behind him. Cold fingers were pressing against his temples. There was no time to question it.

"This will hurt," she spoke into his ear a split second before a hellfire erupted in his skull. He screamed before he had a chance to hold back. He felt that his head was splitting apart. There was a shrill ringing in his ears he could just barely make out over his own cries of pain. It seemed to go on for an eternity but he became aware shortly that the program had stopped. The majority of the pain he'd been feeling had disappeared. Slowly, the raging storm of agony in his head began to settle as well. He opened his eyes to the darkness of the transmitter helmet but he could hear the shuffling of feet nearby. Someone attempted to remove the helmet from his head but drew back with a startled cry.

"It's hot as hell!" a voice spoke.

"Well get it off him goddamit! He could be burning inside of it!" another answered frantically.

"Give me your coat," the first demanded. Cloud could feel the material of it brush against his arms as it was tossed over the helmet. A moment later, the helmet was jerked off him and dropped to the floor.

Cloud blinked against the light invading his eyes. Two lab assistants were staring back at him in shock. He felt just as confused as they looked. He felt hot all over and sweat had broken out over his body, some of it dripping from his face.

"Go get Hojo," the one assistant commanded. The other complied after a moment's hesitation.

Hojo returned with the assistant and Dr. Gunan only a few minutes later. His eyes traveled from the transmitter helmet lying on the floor to Cloud, shaking as his body temperature had fallen suddenly.

"What the hell happened? Why did you stop the simulation?" Hojo spoke angrily.

"We didn't!" the one assistant defended. "We heard him screaming from the hall and when we came to check on him the transmission device was smoking. It was burning hot, feel it! It's probably still warm." Hojo touched the helmet tentatively before picking it up off the floor. It was in fact very warm. "When we pulled it off him, that's how he looked." The professor passed the helmet off to the assistant before moving toward Cloud. Cloud couldn't see it himself but the mako in the irises of his eyes was brightly glowing and pulsing.

"That's not a new feature," Hojo pointed out impatiently.

"His ears," the assistant responded. It had been difficult to make out in the low light of the room but there was a small amount of blood beginning to trail from his ears.

"Deal with it in the med-sector, Doctor," Hojo instructed as he took the helmet back from his one assistant. "While I find out just what happened," he added before departing.

Cloud was brought to the med-sector immediately where a battery of tests was run on him. He was thankful to be out of that dingy cell and someplace warmer and cleaner. He was clothed once again and able to lay his aching head on a soft surface between tests. Simple comforts. He'd come to appreciate them more than he'd ever thought possible.

000

"I don't know what to tell you, Professor," the technician responded to Hojo's pressures for an explanation he could accept. "The device was made perfectly," he said in reference to the transmitter helmet sitting on the nearby table. "There's no way the circuitry could have fried itself."

"Then how the hell did it happen?" Hojo replied in frustration. He noticed the look in the technician's face. The one that suggested he had a theory. "What? What are you thinking?" he prodded.

The technician shook his head. "I dunno. Unless the head inside the device did it—it's the only other explanation. The current between the device and the body inside it somehow managed to create a short circuit, creating enough heat to nearly blow the device apart…" Hojo began to pace slowly then as he contemplated the possibility. "But that's crazy right? I mean no one can do that to a piece of technology through a simple exertion of energy."

"Thank you for your time," Hojo responded then as he turned for the door, his thoughts racing with excitement. It would seem C4 was capable of more than he realized.

That morning, Zack had been brought back to the cell he'd shared with Cloud. It was cold and empty, as it had been when he'd left it. He was tired and sore and though he was aware he hadn't eaten real food in more days than he could count, he also had no desire to. He had a sick feeling that didn't seem to be just restricted to his stomach. It was an odd feeling.

Cloud was released from the med-sector not long after Zack had been brought to the cell first. When he entered the room, Zack immediately rose from his mattress to greet him. Cloud was weak from his time in the D-Wing and from being without food or water for days. He was also heavily doped up on medication to prevent him from getting an infection in his still-healing burns. He was barely able to stand on his own but as Zack reached out to help him, he pulled away suddenly. He hadn't meant to. It just happened out of reflex. He slipped from the goon's grip and dropped to his hands and knees. The goon left then, the sound of the door clicking shut making Cloud wince. Zack was looking at him in confusion. He crouched next to him hesitantly.

"Spike, what's wrong? What happened?" he questioned softly, trying to meet his eyes. Cloud wasn't having it.

"Nothing," he responded quietly, still not looking at Zack. "I'm tired," he added as he began to crawl his way to his mattress.

Zack would normally have tried to help him to his bed and then push him to explain what had happened to him the past few days but there was something in Cloud's demeanor that suggested he wanted to be far from him as possible. It confused and scared him at the same time. He wondered what could have happened to make him want to be alone rather than be near him. Reluctantly, he dragged himself back to his own bed without questioning his friend further.

Cloud curled into himself tightly, facing toward the wall next to him, away from Zack. He hadn't been lying when he said he was tired. He felt like he hadn't slept in weeks and whatever Jenova did to him to help him out of the simulation in the D-Wing had left him feeling drained of all energy. As tired as he was, his racing thoughts kept him from immediately falling asleep. He felt so guilty about pulling away from Zack without giving him any explanation but he couldn't face him right now. How was he to explain that Zack himself had been a nightmare for him? Zack would be pissed at Hojo but secretly he'd also feel guilty, though he had no reason to feel that way. Cloud knew he couldn't ignore him forever, but at the moment that's the only thing he could think to do.

000

Sometime through the day, which might as well have been night for both Cloud and Zack had been sleeping through the hours, Zack woke to the feeling he may be sick. He dragged himself to the bathroom where he deposited a fair amount of yellowish bile into the toilet. He splashed some cold water on his face and rinsed out his mouth before returning to bed. He noticed then that Cloud was dreaming.

He watched him from across the room as he twisted in his sleep. He let him alone at first, watching him as he clenched the blanket over himself, his fists growing seemingly tighter with each passing moment. Then, the first of many sobbed protests left his mouth, making Zack jump slightly. He knew then he had to wake him up. Whatever he was dreaming of it was either hurting him or scaring the shit out of him. Maybe both.

He moved to Cloud's side quickly, calling his name out to him. It did little good. He had to literally shake him awake, pulling him from the depths of his dreams. Cloud's eyes snapped open mid-cry, the sound dying in his throat suddenly. He blinked once but the look of fear never left his eyes as he gazed up at Zack.

"No…" he barely breathed as he sat himself up and drew away from Zack, his back pressing against the wall behind him.

"Spikey, come on, it's me," Zack tried to reason with him. He reached out to touch his shoulder but paused when Cloud burst into tears unexpectedly.

"No, d-don't, please," he cried.

"Don't what?" Zack questioned painfully, feeling incredibly helpless. "Cloud, c'mon buddy, look at me," he urged, trying to meet his frightened friend's tearful eyes.

"I can't," Cloud protested weakly, shaking his head.

"Spike, please! Tell me what happened to you. Did someone do something to you?" Zack asked frantically, unable to keep his own fear from his voice. He was barely able to make out Cloud's answer but it sounded like he said 'you did.' "What did you say?" he questioned hesitantly.

"You did," Cloud repeated sadly, the tears trailing down his cheeks as he finally met Zack's eyes. For a moment, Zack didn't know what to say. He was in shock over Cloud's accusation. Instantly, he was going over the past few days in his head trying to remember doing or saying anything at all that could have led to Cloud's reaction but he came up with nothing.

"I-I don't understand," he spoke at last, shaking his head.

"It was a simulation," Cloud clarified. Zack brightened a little then, thinking that maybe he was going to be able to fix the situation after all.

"But it wasn't me, Spike," he claimed eagerly, putting his hands on Cloud's shoulders. He felt him sag under his touch.

"I know…" Cloud said slowly. "But he had your face."

Zack could feel the tension in Cloud's shoulders under his hands. It wrenched at his heart to know that it meant Cloud wanted to get away from him. He felt angry suddenly, knowing Hojo had done this purposely to Cloud in order to test his reaction or make him suffer. Or maybe he did it to make both of them suffer. Who knew? He tried to keep his voice calm as he spoke.

"This is the response Hojo wanted, Spikey, you can't let him win," he said with a soft, forced smile. Cloud's sad expression didn't change. "You know I would never try to hurt you, right?" he asked tentatively, fearing the response he may get. It seemed an eternity before Cloud gave a slow nod, his eyes looking downward. Despite the fact he knew Cloud didn't want to be touched right now, especially by him, he wrapped his arms around him tightly, trying not to let himself feel too hurt by the fact that Cloud's arms stayed limp at his sides.

_I'll fix this_, he thought to himself. _I have to fix this_.


	43. Chapter 42

_Hi everyone! Bah, so sorry it's taken so long to get this out. I'm even more sorry that DI hasn't been updated yet. I had to do a little research for Chapter 5 which is why it's been taking so long. Anyway, this chapter's a little longer than the last one was. Also, if you didn't get a reply to your review for Chapter 41, I am so so sorry. I've had a little difficulty with my email lately. Hope y'all have a great New Year's Eve. I hope you're all looking forward to a new year 'cause I know I sure as hell am haha! Read on and enjoy. _

_Disclaimer: No own FF. _

Chapter XLII

Zack didn't move from Cloud's side after his friend's short-lived breakdown. He sat next to him on the mattress, ignoring the ever-present signals Cloud was sending out that suggested he wanted to be left alone. The only way Zack could think to rid the tension between he and Cloud was to make sure he knew he could be near him and nothing would happen to him. Eventually, Cloud found sleep and Zack released a long exhale of relief as he watched his body move lightly as he breathed. With Cloud now resting peacefully, Zack's attention was drawn to the cameras in the corners of the room. He wondered how many people were watching them now. He wondered especially how long it was going to be before they were brought some form of food. He suspected that he himself wasn't really meant to consume solid food, if you could call it that, for at least a few more days due to the surgery he'd had. But there was no reason Cloud couldn't be fed.

His dwelling thoughts were directed back at himself as he felt a sharp pain slice through his side. His breath caught in his throat and a hand shot to his side fast to grip the area causing him pain. He knew immediately he was gripping the area where one of the incisions had been made during one of the grafting procedures. He lifted his shirt slowly, not prepared for what he was about to see. Splotches of purple and bright red. A wave of nausea, not unlike what he'd felt a few hours earlier came over him, finding him struggling to get off Cloud's mattress without disturbing him. He got to the bathroom in time to expel another ridiculous amount of bile and mucous, the force of his heaving pulling a round of strangled-sounding coughs from him. He looked down at the palm of his hand, feeling something wet. His skin was speckled in bright red blood.

"Zack?" a quiet voice spoke from nearby. Cloud stood in the doorway.

"Hey, Spike," Zack responded weakly as he discretely wiped the blood from his hand on his one pant leg. "Sorry for waking you," he added as he eased himself back against the wall behind him.

"Are you okay?" Cloud questioned as he moved closer, rubbing his arms against the chill of the room.

"Yeah. Just a little queasy," Zack tried to say with a reassuring smile.

"Maybe you should drink some water," Cloud suggested as he looked to the tap on the sink. It was about the only form of water they had available to consume besides the small amount offered to them in paper cups when they were given medication or vitamins. It was pretty terrible tasting but when you were thirsty enough it didn't seem to matter. Zack was thirsty enough but he didn't think for a moment he was going to be able to stand up to get to it. It was taking a lot of effort for him to not let on how much pain he was feeling in his abdomen right then.

"No thanks. The stuff tastes worse than Nibelheim water," he joked. "I don't know how you grew up drinking that crap. Maybe it's the reason you're so short."

"Where?" Cloud inquired.

"Nibelheim," Zack repeated, assuming he just hadn't heard him. His smile faded as he took note of the complete lack of recognition in Cloud's expression. "Why…are you looking at me like you have no idea what I'm talking about?" he questioned uneasily.

"Because I don't," Cloud replied simply.

There was a heavy silence before Zack laughed a little. "Okay, I get it. You _liked _that awful water. Fine."

"I've never tasted it," Cloud clarified. Zack's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You did so! Even if you managed to avoid it growing up, you drank a huge glass of it at the inn we were staying in during the mission."

Cloud shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Zack. I've never even heard of Nibelheim."

Zack had no idea how to respond to that. _Is he joking?_ _No. Why would he joke about that? But if he's not joking then what the hell is going on? _His thoughts were racing.

"You grew up in Nibelheim, Cloud. Don't you remember?" he questioned hesitantly, watching Cloud's reaction closely. The recognition—that spark of knowing—just wasn't there. His expression was blank. "Where did you grow up, Cloud?" he questioned further.

Cloud appeared to be thinking. "I…I don't know," he said at last as a look of fear came over him. "Oh my God," he whispered as he took a step back, his back hitting the doorframe behind him. "Oh God…" He pushed away from the doorway then, headed back to the main area of the room. Zack had to snap himself out of shock. Cloud wasn't kidding. He really had no idea where he'd come from.

Zack set aside his anxious wonderings over how this could have happened as he struggled to get to his feet despite the burning pain that was afflicting him. He made his way from the bathroom, gripping onto the sink and then the doorframe on his way out. He pulled together his strength for Cloud's sake. His friend was pacing, running his hands through his hair repeatedly as he tried to make himself fill in the blank space in his mind.

"Spike," Zack began to try and reason calmly. "We'll fix this. Just relax—"

"No!" Cloud shouted as he turned his panicked eyes on Zack. "This isn't happening. This isn't real. It's a simulation. Hojo's fucking with my head! You're probably not even Zack!"

"Come on, kid, don't be dumb, you know it's me," Zack assured him while watching him continue to pace.

"No I don't," Cloud denied fast.

"Yes you do! Because Simulation Zack wouldn't remember things like…like the time you got sick in that movie theater during that really lame horror flick and threw up in some dude's popcorn container. Or the time I ended up drunk and shamelessly parading naked around the hotel at that one New Year's banquet and you had to knock me out to get me to sleep."

"No," Cloud muttered as he shook his head. "Maybe Hojo has some stupid device that can read memories or something, I don't know. Why can't I fucking remember where I'm from?!"

Zack watched painfully as Cloud continued to pace back and forth, holding his fists to his head and looking ready to begin beating the memories back into his head at any moment. That look was confirmed as he pounded the sides of his head in frustration.

"Spike, stop this!" Zack demanded firmly as he intercepted Cloud, grabbing hold of his arms. Before he knew it, Cloud was shoving him back forcefully. Normally, it would only have resulted in him stumbling back a few steps but his strangely weak condition found him hitting the wall. Pain shot up and down his back and a small cry escaped him as he fell to his hands and knees on the floor.

"Zack!" Cloud exclaimed in a horrified tone. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—" he began to apologize as he moved toward Zack fast.

"No!" Zack spoke loudly, holding a hand up in a gesture telling him to stay where he was. "It's okay. It's not your fault," he added quietly as he took a few deep breaths and waited for the throbbing pain in his back to dissipate. Cloud lowered himself to his knees a few feet from Zack.

"I'm scared, Zack," he said barely over a whisper. "I don't understand what's happening."

"I know," Zack responded slowly as he sat himself back against the wall. "But we'll figure it out, I promise. I just…can't have you going nuts on me alright?"

Cloud looked down in silence. There was so much anxiety and confusion coming off him that it seemed to fill the room and shrink its size. Zack himself felt like he was suffocating; he could only imagine what Cloud was feeling.

"How will we figure this out, Zack?" Cloud questioned in a small voice without looking up. "I'm losing memories. How can you fix that?"

"I'm not sure right now," Zack responded truthfully. "But we will. I _promise_. You trust me, don't you?" He awaited Cloud's reply. He seemed hesitant to give it. He moved himself closer to Cloud, patting the side of his leg. "Hey, I asked if you trust me. Me. Not some fucked up version of me Hojo made up." Cloud raised his eyes reluctantly.

"Yes," he answered finally. "I trust you."

Zack smiled. "Good. I know you don't want to hear it but…you need to try not to think about this right now. For now, you need to stay focused on being strong. You _are _going to make it out of this. Alright?"

"We are, you mean," Cloud corrected. Something inside Zack sank. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't beat down the feeling that he may not survive long enough to see the day of escape. But he wasn't about to share that feeling with Cloud. He recovered with a reassuring grin, hoping that his doubts were not visible in his eyes.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's what I meant."

The sound of the keypad being activated outside their cell brought their attention to the door just before it was opened and the doctor entered along with two of the goons who marched toward them swiftly, reaching down and taking hold of Cloud's arms. He made a pathetic attempt at trying to hide the fear he felt as he was pulled to his feet. No one needed to announce where he was headed. He knew he was going to the lab. What did surprise him, however, was that Zack was left behind. He glanced over his shoulder once at his dark-haired friend, catching just a flash of something in his face that suggested he knew something Cloud didn't.

As Cloud was led away to the hell that awaited him in the lab, Zack was given a round of three injections that he assumed where meant to fight off infection while suppressing his immune system so that the tissue grafts beneath his skin wouldn't be rejected. But he couldn't be sure. Unless someone outright explained what the numerous injections given to he and Cloud regularly were for they could only guess. He had tried to keep track of them over the months but there were too many to remember. In the beginning it had been mako and Whip. Now there was a wide range of antibiotics and narcotics. Everything from penicillin to Jenova cells.

It had crossed Zack's mind a few times, what would happen if he and Cloud were free of Hojo's clutches and were no longer medicated nearly 24 hours a day. What would happen to their bodies? Each time he thought of such things, he'd force himself to push his worries to the back of his mind. _One thing at a time_, he'd tell himself. Right now he had other things to worry about.

As much as he hated the thought of Cloud undergoing tests, he was happy to have some time to himself when he didn't feel the need to hide the fact that he was obviously sick. He couldn't stop himself from heaving repeatedly, leaning over the toilet, expelling whatever crap had gathered in his stomach. When he wasn't heaving, he was coughing. Each bout of hacking brought up small amounts of frothy, bright red blood. Every part of his body ached. His stomach and intestines seemed heavily cramped and dark bruising had developed over the other incision areas from the grafting procedure. He wasn't a doctor but he had a pretty good idea what was happening. His body, despite the drugs he was being given, was rejecting the tissue that had been sewn to his organs. Now he was deteriorating from the inside out.

He knew he was only going to get worse if he didn't get treatment soon but over the time that he was left alone in the cell his mind became hazy. He found himself tipping toward unconsciousness as he leaned over the toilet and rested his feverish forehead on his arms. Sweat had broken out over his body though he shook with chills and each breath was a struggle to complete due the harsh pain that wracked his body.

He could tell from the look in the doctor's face when he'd come to administer his injections that he knew he wasn't well. But if there was one thing the recent experience of Cloud nearly dying from an infection had shown him, it was that medical intervention was only dealt out when absolutely necessary. No doubt Hojo knew his health was failing, but just as he had tested Cloud's ability to keep himself alive, he would be testing him as well.

There was one problem however. Zack lacked what Cloud didn't. For some reason, Cloud's body had received Jenova's cells successfully. His had not. The cells were binding to the mako in his friend's body, working together with his body's defenses. This was not the case for himself. Furthermore, even Cloud had not been able to save himself at a certain point. What chance did he have himself?

He always made a point to look on the brighter sides of things, but at that particular moment in time, the darkness was more overwhelming than even the brightest of suns.

000

In the lab, Cloud had been given another injection of Jenova cells before being shut up in the one cylinder for a round of mako. As angry as Hojo had been over Cloud's rebellion a few days earlier, the fact that Cloud was showing signs that something was changing inside him—something that was in his mind undoubtedly connected to Jenova—warranted the injection of more cells.

Cloud was returned to his and Zack's cell hours later, barely able to hold himself upright on his own. There was a goon on either side of him, each with a more than firm grip on one of his upper arms. They hadn't been very discrete about the fact they weren't pleased with the injuries he had given them a few days earlier. They dragged him roughly toward the cell, their fingers leaving impressions in his flesh. They let him fall to the floor clumsily and tossed his balled up shirt and pants onto the tile next to him before turning their backs, leaving him in his mako treatment-weakened state to look after himself.

He struggled briefly to pull himself across the floor toward his mattress, giving up after moving a few short feet and resting his right cheek against the cold tile. He let a long exhale slip from his lungs as he closed his eyes. He was still feeling the bit of mild euphoria that came with the long exposure to mako. It was a strange sensation, after experiencing so much pain. Your mind and senses became dull and you were aware of only a few things. The irregular thud of your heartbeat, the chills running up your spine, and the knowledge that in a few short hours you'd be in a world of hurt.

He thought of Zack briefly as his consciousness was tipping. He had noticed Zack was not in the immediate area. He wasn't sure if he had been taken elsewhere for testing or if he was just out of view. He took comfort in the assumption that, as with his previous experiences, he would fall into unconsciousness and wake hours later, dressed and resting in his bed. With that in mind, he let himself slip down into the darkness.

The first thing he noticed when he was waking, besides the obvious pain, was that he was still lying on the tile, his clothes crumpled up nearby. He lifted his head off the floor and turned it slowly toward Zack's mattress. Zack appeared to still be absent. A pang of worry sparked up inside him as he tried to think of where he would be. He hadn't been in the lab so either he was in combat or fitness testing, or he'd been taken to the med-sector.

Slowly, he turned himself over, onto his back, clenching his jaw against the pain radiating through his torso. Reaching out stiffly, he grasped onto his clothes before sitting up slowly, holding his spinning and aching head as he did so. The simple movement seemed to afflict him with a bout of vertigo and he shut his eyes a moment to block out the spinning in his vision. He noticed that despite feeling cold, he was also dry, indicating that it had been a least a few hours since he'd passed out on the floor. Anticipating the inevitable sickness he'd been experiencing shortly, he decided it best to get himself dressed and head to the bathroom area where he'd be in reach of a place to throw up if he needed to, which he suspected he would. It had been awhile since he'd undergone mako treatment and that usually meant greater negative side-affects.

After dressing himself at a near glacier's pace, he dragged himself toward the washroom, not bothering to pull himself up from his hands and knees. He suspected if he tried to stand while feeling as dizzy as he did he'd end up back on the floor anyway. At first, he didn't notice what was right in front of him in the washroom. His head was down as he moved. But as he raised his eyes he was met with the heart-wrenching sight of Zack sitting on the floor in front of the toilet, his upper body resting on the cold porcelain. With his head resting on his arms, his face was hidden from view.

Tentatively, Cloud extended a hand and touched Zack's shoulder, squeezing softly and shaking him a little. "Zack," he spoke his name quietly, frowning a little when Zack didn't respond right away. His eyes were drawn to a place on his back where this shirt failed to meet the waistband of his pants in the slumped-over position he was in. The visible patch of skin was marred in deep bruising. Cloud was shocked to see the degree of damage that was present on the surface of his friend's body. It looked incredibly painful.

Zack stirred then, his shoulders rising slightly as he inhaled deeply before raising his head a little off his arms. He only turned it a bit before resting his right cheek back down. "Cloud," he breathed out uneasily. Dried blood was visible on his bottom lip as he spoke. His face was pale, dark circles shadowing his heavy eyes. The mako in his irises was dim, giving his eyes a duller appearance than Cloud ever remembered seeing.

"You're really sick, aren't you," Cloud said hoarsely, his throat affected by the mako vapor he'd been breathing for the past several hours. "You were trying to hide it before," he added sadly.

"Yeah. Great job I did," he responded weakly, closing his eyes in response to a tremor that went through him, reminding him of his physical agony once again. "But what is life for us if one of us isn't dying?" he added then.

"Dying?" Cloud echoed him. Zack opened his eyes to see the worry that was evident in Cloud's expression.

"I wasn't being serious, kid," he tried to say with a smile that never made it to his face.

"Yes, you were," Cloud retorted quietly as he shifted himself on the floor between the sink and the toilet, resting his back against the wall. Zack was right. There were countless times when one of them was sick or on the verge of death. It was just how it was. They were faced with constant stress over worrying about each other or themselves. It was a terrible way to live. "I have to do something," Cloud said after a short silence. It was directed more at himself than Zack.

"There's nothing to do," Zack pointed out, shifting his weight a little where he sat.

"Yes, there is. The doctor needs to know you're sick so he can treat you. I can try to get their attention through the cameras—"

"They already know, Spike," Zack cut him off before he could go on any further.

"What?" Cloud questioned uneasily.

"The doctor, Hojo, his lab asses. They already know whatever they did to me fucked me up and they know I've been sitting here puking up my guts. They just don't give a shit."

Cloud sat a little dumbstruck before speaking again, gripping the pedestal of the sink next to him as he tried to endure his own growing pain as his body's defenses began giving in to the mako smothering them.

"But Hojo can't possibly want you to die," he tried to rationalize. Zack scoffed lowly.

"Hojo wants us to be able to fix ourselves. He wants the results he sees in you. I don't think he cares so much about losing a _specimen_ that doesn't give him his results."

"Well I don't care what Hojo wants," Cloud retorted. "There has to be something we can do—"

"There isn't," Zack cut him off softly. Cloud eyed him critically for a moment before replying.

"So you're just giving up then?" he asked sharply. "You're gonna give up and die?"

Zack sighed, closing his eyes once again. "I'm not giving up, Spike. I'm just being realistic."

"Well screw being realistic," Cloud responded fast. "You found a way to help me when I needed it, and I'll do the same for you. I'm not just gonna watch you die."

With that said, Cloud proceeded to help Zack back out to the main area of the room, where he could rest a little more comfortably on his mattress. He'd barely been able to move himself and he did so with a great deal of painful effort.

Whatever strength Zack had had left seemed to fade away rapidly through the night. Cloud woke from his own feverish sleep to find him in a state of delirium, his sheets and pillow blotted with dots of blood that had left him each time he'd coughed. He was writhing and panting weakly, his arms wrapped tightly around his heavily bruised abdomen. His half-open eyes suggested he was awake but he was unresponsive to Cloud's words or touches.

Cloud felt helpless as he watched his friend suffer. He wasn't well himself, dealing with the aversive affects of the mako treatment he'd had the night before. He shook as he tried to pat Zack's face and chest down with a cold cloth, hoping it would help to keep his temperature from rising any higher than it had already. Nausea overtook him a few times and he was forced to abandon his friend to empty his stomach. It was hard enough looking after someone who was sick without being sick yourself.

At some point, the door to the room was opened and two of the goons stepped in carrying food and vitamins. One he recognized to be Tyson. He was the only one of the current four whose name he knew. They threw a glance at Zack before Tyson made a move toward Cloud. He reached out with familiar cups of pills and water for him to take but Cloud made no move to take them.

"He's sick," he spoke then, looking down at Zack.

"So?" the goon replied casually. "Take the cups," he ordered.

"He needs to see the doctor. Right now," Cloud responded, ignoring the man's order.

"Take the cups," Tyson repeated in a firm tone. Cloud shook his head.

He gave his own order. "Go get the doctor." He watched the expression in the man's face change; saw the anger that was building beneath the surface.

"_Take the pills_," the goon said more forcefully, pushing the paper cups at him. Cloud glanced down at them before returning his gaze upwards.

With all the strength he could muster to keep his tone steady and firm, he spoke two words. "_Make me_." Tyson's eyes narrowed.

"Gladly," he said as he looked back at his companion. The other goon stepped toward Cloud quickly, reaching down and shoving him down on his back on the floor. "Hold him, Brick," Tyson instructed and the other complied, holding an arm across Cloud's chest and pressing a knee into his lower stomach, pinning him to the floor. Tyson clutched Cloud's jaw with one hand then and pried it open just wide enough to be able to get the 5 or 6 pills of various shapes and colours into his mouth. He followed it up with the cup of water. Cloud felt the rush of the liquid hitting the back of his throat, carrying with it several of the pills. A hand clamped over his mouth and nose then, cutting off his breathing. He struggled under the hold of the goons, trying to squirm away from them. It was a pointless effort.

"Swallow, you stupid son of a bitch," Brick commanded as he pressed his knee harder into Cloud's stomach. With his chest aching for air, he gave in and swallowed uneasily, the action creating a pressure reaction in his ears, making them seem plugged up until the hand was removed from his face and he was able to breathe, swallowing once again to break through the pressure.

"Was that so fuckin' hard?" Tyson asked as he rose to his feet and stepped back, followed by Brick. The release of pressure on his stomach had Cloud coughing roughly as he turned over onto his side before pulling himself up to sit. "You gonna need to be force-fed too?" Tyson inquired.

"Try it, asshole," Cloud muttered as he threw a glare at the goon. The enforcers looked at one another before laughing.

"You wouldn't be much of a fight," Tyson jeered.

"Was that what you thought just before I kicked your asses in the lab like three or four days ago?" Cloud questioned with a smirk crossing his face. The men exchanged irritated looks at one another. Both looked insulted enough to begin beating Cloud's face in. But they forfeited that option quickly enough.

"Fuck it," Tyson spoke up at last. "Why would we waste our time making you eat when the thought of you starving is so much better?" He took the bowl of soup-like food meant for him from Brick and tipped it, letting the contents pour onto the tile. "If you get hungry you can lick it off the floor," the goon said in amusement. Both he and his companion laughed to themselves before leaving the cell. Cloud stared at the mess left on the floor in front of him and smiled.

"Pussies," he spat at the door before returning his attention to Zack.

000

It was hours before anyone else came to visit the cell. He suspected that the doctor would be arriving at some point to administer injections to both he and Zack. The minimum aid. That's all they ever seemed to get. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to help save Zack, he just knew he had to. There was no way he was going to be able to survive without him. Something drastic was needed. Desperate times. Desperate measures.

For the time being, all he could do was lay on his own mattress, his eyes on Zack's form as his movements ceased and he passed into unconsciousness, his heart beating shallow and rapid. Every once and awhile, he'd shift his line of sight toward the door, wishing to see it open and hoping to God there would be an opportunity to help his friend.

Eventually, the time came. When he saw Doctor Gunan enter the room unaccompanied he knew it was the time to act. Someone had made the mistake in assuming he was just as harmless as Zack at the moment. He waited until Gunan had finished giving Zack an injection before making his move. He jumped from his mattress swiftly, grabbing the doctor from behind and pulling him to the floor before delivering a blow to his face with his fist. He reached down and wrenched the emptied syringe from his hand before dragging him to his feet. He pressed the tip of the needle on the syringe into the doctor's neck, pressing just hard enough to let him know he meant business.

"It's time you gave my friend some proper treatment," he spoke into the doctor's right ear. "Or else Hojo's going to be short a doctor," he added.

"No one will care if you use me as a hostage," Gunan spoke coolly. "They'll take you down in seconds, without regard for _my _life."

Cloud was silent then as he thought over the doctor's words. "You're right," he agreed, releasing his hold on the doctor and pushing him away from himself. Staring down at the syringe in his hand, he realized what he had to do. It was the onlything he _could _do. "Well, I think you'd better go fetch Hojo," he spoke at last, without looking up.

"Why?" Gunan inquired.

"Because I have a proposition he needs to hear."


	44. Another Author Note

Hey guys. Not an update, I know, I'm sorry. Actually, the reason I'm posting this note is because I received a review to this story last night that suggested this story is repetitive and uninteresting and I should change it immediately. I already wrote an extensive reply to this person defending my position but the more I've thought about it I've been thinking I should probably give the rest of you the chance to give your opinions on what I should do. In all honesty, I have continued to write this story for you, the readers. I have a job, a senior thesis I'm writing in order to complete an undergraduate degree, law school applications to complete, and several other works of writing that I am in the process of editing so that they can be given to my agent in hopes of having them published. There are many issues in my personal life as well that keep me busy on a day to day basis but I still manage to find the time to update this story because I promised I would not abandon it. And I will not. However, I would not be upset not having this story on my mind as I am occupied by many other commitments. So by all means if you wish me to end Zack and Cloud's peril in Hojo's labs, do speak up and I will end the story immediately without finishing up with the final chapters. I would of course give you a concluding chapter and thus a resolution. I know that I do have a lot of silent readers who choose not to review. I can only hope that you do not have the same concerns that this one person has had.

Once again, I will say, I feel a writer is nothing without the support of his or her readers. If you share this person's opinion and wish me to not drag this story out anymore then I will do what I can to give you a suitable ending immediately. Of course, if I do not receive any comments telling me to do otherwise, I will continue to update this story as I have planned out already.

Thanks guys, hope you have a happy New Year.

-Jaydee


	45. Chapter 43

_Hi guys! Well, I must say, I'm shocked and blown away by the incredible response I got from all of you in regards to my note I put up yesterday. I think it's generally agreed that you want me to keep going with the story the way I have been. I felt bad about the disappointment I created, however, when several of you mentioned you thought my A/N was an update and it wasn't haha! So I put together the next chapter last night. It's a little short but hopefully still good. I want to respond to all your reviews to my note but it's going to take awhile. There were a lot lol. You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for all your support! Hugs all around! Read on and enjoy! _

_Disclaimer: FFVII not mine. _

Chapter XLIII

"Left. No, the other left…Uh…maybe a little bit more to the right."

Tifa had been instructing a man hanging a sign for her. She eyed its position critically, wanting it to be just right.

"_Seventh Heaven_. That's a nice name," a soft voice spoke from behind her. She turned fast to see someone she hadn't bumped into in a long while.

"Aeris! Hi," she greeted the young woman with a bright smile. "How've you been?" she questioned eagerly. It had been awhile since she'd had a familiar face to take to and while she and Aeris had never officially been friends she would take the company just as happily.

"I've been well, how about you?" the glittering green-eyed girl replied, returning an equally bright smile.

"Well…I'll be great if this whole bar gig turns out alright. I'm starting to think I'm crazy for doing this," Tifa responded with a nervous laugh.

"I'm sure it will be great," Aeris assured her. Her expression grew more serious then as she turned to a different topic. "I expected to see you a few months ago. I thought you'd be at the gravesite, seeing as it was the anniversary of…well, you know."

"No," Tifa said as she lowered her eyes. She turned back to look at the sign being hung. "I couldn't. I was working,"

"Was that the only reason?" Aeris asked curiously.

"Yes," Tifa spoke firmly but her grim expression betrayed her. She sighed. "No. It's just…I can't go their anymore. I don't accept that Cloud is dead. I can't. Even after all this time. Does—does that make me crazy?"

"I don't think so," Aeris responded, shaking her head lightly. "I've found it hard to accept that of Zack."

"But you do accept it?" Tifa questioned hesitantly.

"I don't know what to accept," she replied sadly. "I used to feel his presence so strongly, in the first few months after he disappeared but that feeling has diminished over the years. At first I thought it meant he was still alive but now…I don't know. Maybe I just didn't want to let go. It's been over three years, Tifa. My heart tells me he's not dead but how am I to believe that? Surely he would have tried to contact me by now. Unless…"

"Unless what?" Tifa inquired.

"Unless he just didn't care for me the way I thought he did," she suggested.

"I don't believe that for a second," Tifa said fast, surprised that Aeris would even think that.

"Then where is he, Tifa? Why haven't I heard anything from him?"

Both girls were silent a few moments before Tifa ended the lull. "I've tried many times to imagine where it is that Cloud is—where they both are. Wherever it is, it's beyond imagination. But I know in _my _heart that if they could be here they would be. And I don't doubt for a second that if Zack could be anywhere it would be with you. Don't give up on him."

000

As Cloud waited for the professor to arrive at the cell, he sat next to Zack on the floor, watching him as he tried to ease his nerves. As he gripped the glass syringe in his hand tightly, he started to think that this could very well be the worst idea he'd ever had. If he didn't succeed in his negotiations with Hojo, there would only be one option left. He just hoped he was able to go through with it if it came to that.

When Hojo appeared in the doorway accompanied by his staff, Cloud spoke up right away, halting him in his tracks. "Only you can come in, old man," he instructed. "You're drones stay in the hall."

"Excuse me?" Hojo blurted incredulously. "Are _you _giving me orders? I don't think so!" He stepped into the room followed closely by two of the goons.

"Then I guess this is the end of your project," Cloud threw back at him as he took the syringe in his hand and jammed it into his jugular. Hojo stopped dead, a look of genuine surprise and anxiety on his face.

"What the hell are you doing?!" he shouted, preparing himself to charge at Cloud.

"Stop!" Cloud demanded, his thumb poised over the pump on the syringe imbedded in his throat. Hojo and his staff stopped in their tracks. "I want them out," he spoke firmly, ignoring the pain in his neck, his eyes never leaving Hojo's. Reluctantly, Hojo nodded to his workers. They stepped out into the hall, leaving Hojo alone with Cloud. The professor motioned to move closer to him then. "_You_! Don't fucking move. You're here to listen to a proposition I have, that's it!"

"What the hell is it?" the professor questioned with frustration as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Zack needs treatment or he'll die. You messed him up and you're going to see that he gets fixed."

"Or what?" Hojo challenged.

"Well. If he dies, I won't have much reason to live on in this fucking freakshow," Cloud explained, his thumb still readied for action on the pump of the syringe.

"You're threatening to kill yourself if I don't save the pathetic SOLDIER?" Hojo said, his tone mocking.

"This is not a fucking joke you sick prick!" Cloud blurted loudly. "So make your decision. Fix Zack, or lose us both. You have ten seconds to decide before I end your goddamn project for you!"

Hojo appeared to be contemplating. For a moment Cloud worried that he was going to turn down the proposition and tell him off. He mentally prepared himself to go through with the threat he'd made. He knew there was no way he wanted to force himself to go on if he had to do it alone. He could barely contain his relief when Hojo gave in and uttered an exasperated "Fine!"

With Zack out of the room, on his way to treatment, and Cloud left on his own, he cautiously removed the needle on the syringe from his neck, clenching his jaw against the discomfort of the feeling. With the needle removed, he drew in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he thanked God his plan had worked. All he had to do then was wait. Everything would be better again when Zack was back to being himself.

It never occurred to him as he waited for some sort of news, or someone to enter the room that he could interrogate, that it may have been too late for Zack. That was something he wasn't prepared for. As he found himself sitting on the floor of the cell, Hojo standing across from him, telling him there was no hope for Zack's recovery, he felt the world collapsing on him.

"He is beyond repair," Hojo spoke casually as he wrote some things down on the clipboard he'd brought with him.

"I don't believe that," Cloud responded lowly.

"That is not my problem," the professor answered uninterestedly.

"It _is _yourproblem," Cloud fired back. "Everything that happens to us is YOUR problem. You've killed him, _you_!

"No. He will die because he is weak," Hojo said coldly. Cloud glared at him in disgust, trying to keep down the emotions that were dying to get out. "So what will you do now? Will you attempt to end your life because you fear loneliness?" he mocked.

Cloud lowered his eyes then, looking upon the syringe in his hand once again. _I should end my life_, he thought to himself. _It would be better than allowing myself to become your pawn. _But somewhere deep inside him, he could hear Zack shouting at him not to destroy himself. Not to give up. It would be the ultimate failure. There was no real sacrifice in it. It would be selfish. No, he needed to keep going, as long as he could.

He placed the syringe on the tile next to him and pushed it forward, watching it roll across the floor towards Hojo. The professor stopped it with his foot, looking at Cloud with narrowed eyes as he reached down and picked the slender tube of glass up in his one hand.

"I'm not going to take my own life," Cloud muttered quietly. He turned his eyes on Hojo once again. His words teeming with hatred he said, "I need to live. Because one day I'm going to have the pleasure of killing you."

Hojo eyed him critically before a smug smirk came across his face. "Sure, you will," he said lightly as he turned his back on Cloud and exited the room.

A short time later, a few of the goons came to collect Cloud, taking him in the opposite direction from the lab. It was a minute of walking before he realized where he was headed. He was about to undergo combat testing for the first time in what seemed like forever. And for the first time in the history of combat tests down in the mansion's basement, he was happy to have the chance to fight something.

He sat patiently in the change room area, awaiting the doctor to administer an injection of the compound that would suppress the negative affects of his earlier mako treatment and stimulate his senses and reflexes. With his body running more efficiently than would normally be possible, he marched out to the battle area. The weapons were resting on a wooden cart. His opponent was already waiting for him, a set of kama in his hands. The Turk was taller and far more muscular than Cloud. He was dressed in his usual Turk attire, which never failed to impress. It wasn't easy to fight in a suit after all. But they made it look that way.

Cloud picked up his weaponry and took his place in the centre of the large room, opposite his opponent. He gripped the two kama tightly, one in each hand, the smooth wood of the nigiri on each nuzzled against his palms. Essentially a sickle, the kama had been one of his favourites at the Academy though he'd only had a limited time to train with them. His opponent looked comfortable with the weapons. He handled them easily as he took a few practice swings with them. The sharp edges of the metal heads glimmered under the bright lights overhead and his opponent smirked as if he was sure the win would be his.

The Turk made the first move, nearly by surprise, leaping forward and slashing with his right kama vertically. Cloud threw up his left kama, blocking the oncoming strike by hooking the Turk's weapon. He delivered his own counter strike, aiming for his opponent's head with the kissaki of his right weapon, the tip. The Turk ducked successfully and swung with his own left kama, just missing Cloud's side as he dodged the attack.

Flipping both his kama into a reverse grip, he blocked an oncoming blow from the kissaki of the Turk's left weapon. It chipped away a small chunk of wood from the wooden grip as it was pulled back. Before the Turk had a chance to fully recover, Cloud threw an elbow strike at him, catching his left sleeve and tearing through the material. He hadn't been quick enough to draw blood.

The Turk retaliated with a vertical strike towards Cloud's face. Cloud dropped to avoid the hit, and thrust his kama forward, aiming to catch the man's ankle and the back of his knee. The man barely got away, the edge of Cloud's left weapon slicing through a few layers of skin at the back of his ankle, not deep enough to cut his Achilles tendon.

As Cloud aimed to strike with his right kama, the Turk swung his weapons into a reverse grip, blocking the oncoming blade. He hooked Cloud's right kama with his left and swung with his own right weapon towards Cloud's torso. Cloud could feel the cold tip slicing through the skin on his stomach and he arched himself away from it quickly, hoping to avoid a deep wounding. He stumbled back and dropped to one knee, glancing down at the shred in his shirt that was becoming wet with blood. The Turk advanced on him. As he began to rise he swung his right kama toward the Turk's left leg, a wave of frustration coming over him as the strike was blocked. Again, his opponent hooked his weapon and dealt him a blow. The kissaki of the Turk's right kama struck his left upper arm, puncturing skin and muscle deeply. He cried out and thrust the heads of his kama into the Turk's chest, shoving him backward. The metal ripped from his arm, starting another steady flow of blood.

"You're going to lose," a dreaded familiar voice spoke inside his ear.

_No_, he replied inside his head.

"You're going to fail," the voice went on. "Unless you let me help."

_Goddamn you, Jenova_, he thought as he tried to ready himself for the next attack. The Turk was circling him, grinning once again.

"Let me lend you strength. Don't you want to live to avenge your friend's death?" Jenova questioned.

"He's not dead!" he spoke allowed, drawing a curious glare from his opponent.

"Not _yet_."

_Get out of my head, _he ordered as he tried to shake the voice away.

"You need my help. Let me help you…" Jenova pushed on.

Knowing in the back of his mind that he was going to lose, he gave in. He just wanted the battle to be over. "Fine," he muttered lowly.

He felt a renewed strength and power as the Turk finally charged at him. He blocked a hook aimed to take the back of his neck, flipping to a reverse grip with his left kama before striking the Turk's face with the spine of his right, the hit breaking his nose. He slashed hard and fast then, nearly connecting with the opponent's body several times as he struggled to block the onslaught. All Cloud could feel was rage. In his mind, somehow he'd failed Zack. But this place was the reason for his failure and he hated everything and everyone in it.

With a loud cry, he raised both his kama high in the air before bringing them down together and into the soft skin behind the clavicle on either side of the Turk's neck. A pained scream erupted from the Turk as specks of blood flew into the air, some of it finding its way onto Cloud, dotting his cheeks and the exposed skin of his neck. Tearing the kama from the Turk's flesh he finished off his opponent by striking his ribcage, each blade cutting deeply down to the man's lungs. He choked as he fell onto his back, the weapons still lodged in his sides.

But the fight didn't stop there. With adrenaline, Whip, mako, and God knows what else, running through his veins he ripped the two kama from the body of the dying Turk and prepared himself to meet Hojo's staff as they attempted to subdue him. Almost immediately he felt the sear of hot pain in his palms, though it was dulled by the bandages wrapped around his hands. His body was screaming for him to drop the weapons but his mind was rebelling. He advanced on the goons that had been sent out to fetch him, prepared for a bloody fight. But the pain intensified as the mechanism imbedded in the grips of the kama was fully activated. A mechanism meant to assure he could be disarmed. Unable to fight the urge to end his pain, he took the opportunity to throw the one towards the goons. It sliced through the air, narrowly missing the one as he ducked to avoid injury. He dropped the other kama reluctantly but was nowhere near finished fighting. It was a brutal bare-handed battle that ended suddenly when Cloud slipped in some of the blood gathering on the floor from the slain Turk.

As soon as Cloud hit the floor on his back, the goons jumped on him fast, pinning him down while two of the lab assistants approached swiftly, one taking hold of his left arm and keeping it from flailing while the other injected him with something. He realized soon enough that it was a sedative. Instantly, his muscles grew weak and his mind became hazy, along with his vision. He didn't know what was going to happen to him and right then he didn't care.


	46. Chapter 44

_Hey guys, sorry for dragging my ass on getting this chapter out. There was a death in my family last week so there was a lot of crazy stressness and whatnot. Anyway, if this chapter seems to just sorta end and doesn't seem like it should have it's probably because I chopped it in half. The second half is still missing some things that need to be filled in but i didn't want you to have to wait any longer to get to read something. Also, I'm slowly getting the replies to your reviews to you. I sent out about 20 the other night and I still have about 50 to go through. But you WILL get a reply. I promise :)_

_On to the chapter! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII_

Chapter XLIV

There was no way for Cloud to know how many hours had gone by when he awoke from his drug-induced slumber. He began to lift his one arm but was stopped by something hard. He opened his heavy eyelids to stare up into darkness. Fear struck him a moment as he thought perhaps he'd been rendered blind once again, but as he tried to sit up and was met immediately with a shot of pain in his head from slamming it against a hard surface, he realized it had nothing to do with his vision.

His fear remained as he tried to feel around the sides of what was most certainly a box. A coffin was more like it. It was just big enough to fit his body and there were only a few inches between he and the top panel. Not enough room for him to make any real movements. If he tried to bend his legs, his knees hit the wood, if he tried to move his arms his elbows would hit. There was no choice of position for him besides flat on his back.

Panic began rising inside him. He wasn't claustrophobic normally but in such a small space with no apparent way out, he found his anxiety rising. _Stay calm_, he lectured himself. _Freaking out is not going to help you. _He debated with himself whether it was real or not. It could have been a simulation. He struggled to move his arm enough to get within reach of his stomach. As he slipped his fingers beneath the material of his shirt he was just barely able to feel a bit of bandaging. It was covering one of the areas he'd been injured in the recent combat testing. That confirmed it was unlikely he was in a simulation. Usually whatever afflictions he had in the real world were not present in the programmed one.

He wished it weren't real. The idea that he was truly trapped in the box had him feeling helpless before he even had a chance to contemplate escape. The fact was, the limited space for mobility made it very unlikely he'd be able to force his way out. Unknowingly, his breaths had been leaving him in ragged pants as his anxiety was taking hold of him. It wasn't until that horrible thought that he may be taking in a limited amount of air supply too quickly struck him that he forced himself to calm his breathing.

Slowly, he moved his hand over his chest and turned it palm up as he touched the surface above him. He ran his fingers over the rough wood, pausing when he felt something like a hole. It _was _a hole. A small circle cut into the lid of the box, just over his face. He felt a small flicker of relief as he realized he didn't have to worry about suffocation. That didn't make him any less trapped though.

"Relax," he whispered aloud to himself. _Hojo's just pissed you acted up in combat testing. He's not gonna keep you in here forever, _he told himself. Yet, somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't ruling that possibility out.

000

Though there was virtually no sounds outside of the monitors next to him, Zack awoke from a feverish haze of a sleep, feeling like someone had been trying to wake him. It was the first time he'd woken with some form of real awareness since the day before last. He could tell just through mental assessment that he was in better shape than he had been, though that wasn't saying much. He wasn't out of the woods yet, so to speak. Probably not even close. His breathing was still heavily laboured, his lungs still feeling half full of fluid and blood, and he was certain he was still running a significantly high temperature. However, as he pushed down the thin sheet covering his bare torso, he could see several new incisions in his flesh that had been stitched closed. His guess was that the tissue grafts had been removed from his organs.

He should have been relieved. He knew that. But he felt the strangest thing as he thought of the possibility of making a full recovery. It was disappointment. And it scared him. Was he really disappointed that he was no longer lying on the threshold of Death's door? It was sad but true. He'd accepted the likelihood of his death. Made peace with it. And even that had been taken away from him. He thought of Cloud briefly. Felt his concern light up like a small spark in the darkest of basements, but he cursed himself promptly. Cloud would be better off without him if he didn't pull through. He was sure of it.

He wasn't able to stay awake very long. Each moment he'd forced his eyes open had been a struggle. He fell into a void where nothing seemed to exist outside of himself and his fleeting willpower. With his retreat back into sleep came an unexpected encounter. He wasn't aware of anyone present in his soundless and objectless dwelling until they spoke.

"Zack," a deep, familiar, and comforting voice greeted him. He looked up and into the eyes of his lost mentor and friend, Angeal. He was looking down at Zack with a deep sadness in his eyes. "Are you so lost that you should end up here?" he asked softly.

"Angeal," Zack spoke his name shakily, his vocal cords stricken with grief. Tears built up in his eyes immediately, a few of them escaping down his cheeks. "I'm sorry," he whispered, lowering his gaze once again.

The man crouched in front of him, searching to meet Zack's eyes again. "Sorry for what?" he questioned.

"For failing you," he explained. "I couldn't be the person you tried to teach me to be." He rubbed his arms slowly as he became suddenly aware of the cold air around him. "There was a time when all I wanted was to be hero. And to…help people. It was stupid for me to ever believe I could accomplish something like that."

"Zack, you've helped plenty of people in the past. Including me," Angeal replied matter-of-factly. "And you continue to help another." Zack met his eyes and scoffed lightly.

"Cloud?" he questioned rhetorically. Angeal nodded firmly. "I'm no help to him," Zack countered, shaking his head. "Not now. I probably never was."

"Why would you think that?" his deep-voiced friend inquired.

"I just…think I do him more harm than good. I've made more trouble for him than he deserves. Even when I try to help, I always mess things up."

"You can't really believe that. It's ridiculous, Zackary. You're his friend. Can't you see he needs you? Just as you need him. What of all your promises?"

There was silence a moment as Zack contemplated Angeal's words. He spoke at last. "Maybe I'm just a liar," he suggested. Angeal's expression turned grave.

"Hn…perhaps. A coward as well," he accused, drawing a hurt expression from Zack. "You'd rather give up because it's easier. Hmm? You'll give up on yourself and your friend and let him fight your shared burden alone?" Zack lowered his eyes and turned his head away from his former mentor. Angeal's expression fell into one resembling something of mild disgust. "You're no SOLDIER. Clearly, you've learned nothing." He rose from his couched position and turned away.

"I'm sorry, Angeal," Zack called to him as he was walking away. "I'm sorry I failed you."

The tall, broad-shouldered man turned back briefly, his eyes dark and sad. His expression softened, however, as he looked upon Zack's defeated form. There was a distinct sympathy shrouded in the man's face that Zack could see. Angeal pitied him. And he hated it. "No, Zack," the man spoke softly. I was your teacher. It is _I _who failed _you_."

Zack's mouth fell open slightly as he struggled for a reply. But there was none he could manage to give before the man that had meant almost everything to him at one time departed into the shadows.

000

In the confines of his loneliness, Cloud jolted once again as he was tipping on the brink of sleep. His elbows and knees hit the sides of the box, sending minor shocks through his sore body. As tired as he was, and as desperately as he wanted to get away from the monotony of that dark coffin, he didn't want to allow himself to fall asleep. He'd grown to fear the recesses of his mind, of that unconscious world. He feared those who would be waiting for him. Although Jenova had proven to have the ability to get to him even while awake, he could at least escape Sephiroth, or whatever remnant of him it was that haunted him. And then there were his dreams. His nightmares. Distorted versions of memories or horrid visions of things he feared most deeply. Sleep had become another enemy, and in a life that had become so completely out of his control, he needed to hold on to that one choice he could make for himself. To stay awake as long as possible.

He jolted again suddenly, not because he was about to fall asleep but because his ears caught the sound of a door opening somewhere nearby. A switch must have been flicked then as a small bit of light trailed in through the hole above him. Seconds later, he heard the sound of footsteps. He grew more alert instantly, hope filling him head to toe that he was going to be released from his confinement. He shifted himself as best he could, trying to see out the small hole. There was a thud on the lid above him and the box vibrated as whoever was present banged on the wood with his fist.

"If you want water, put your mouth to the hole," a gruff voice barked.

Cloud did as he was instructed, straining to lift himself up and get his mouth centered at the circular cut in the lid. Liquid rushed into his mouth in a continuous stream that didn't allow him to swallow without causing some of it to spill over the sides of his face and down his neck. The cold feeling was a shock to his over-heated body, but not totally unwelcome. When the flow of water stopped he tried once again to see out the hole.

"Hey!" he called out to whoever was present. "How long am I gonna be in here?" he questioned, trying to hide any sounds of panic or weakness from his tone. There was no response but the sound of footsteps headed away from him. "Hey!" he called out once again. There was no reply. Only the flick of a light switch that left him in darkness once again. He continued to shout, demanding that someone at least talk to him, or insult him, or just give him some indication that he wasn't going to be forgotten about. But there was no response. The only sounds came from himself as he panted in that stifling trunk.

After a few minutes, he had managed to calm himself once again and lay still as he stared into the darkness. He thought of Zack then. Hojo's words still stung painfully when he thought of what he'd said. That Zack was beyond repair. That he would die. A sick feeling took over his insides as he thought of the possibility Zack had already passed. What if he was dead? What if the one person who'd always been there to look out for him, was gone forever? He was fighting his emotions then. He was terrified at the thought that he was truly alone. He didn't know that he could survive in Hojo's constructed hell on his own. Despite his fears, the hours still went on. And on. Into another day of harsh realities.

000

Down in the med-sector, Zack took in a few deep, nearly pain-free, breaths. He had been lying, listening to the sounds of the quiet monitor bleeps that were lulling him and out of sleep. It was assumed by the medical staff that by some fluke, or perhaps miracle, he'd managed to overcome the worst of his sickness. With the grafts to his organs having been removed and his body infused with a world of medicines, he'd been brought back from the brink of death. Still, the doctor had been shocked to find his body regenerating itself and mending what damage the foreign tissues had caused that he was not able to fix himself.

Zack knew of course that he had had a hand in his improving condition. And so had Angeal. It had been obvious that up until the point he decided he needed to live, he was headed for the complete opposite. After his dream-encounter—or so he decided to call it—with Angeal, he convinced himself it was not his time yet, that he still had promises to keep, the most important being he had promised Cloud he'd get them their freedom back, and he intended to follow through with that promise.

It had been difficult to face his mentor and express his feelings of weakness to him. And though he didn't feel any stronger or surer of himself at the moment, he just couldn't abandon his friend. He hoped Cloud was in better shape than he was.

Unfortunately, Cloud was not in a very good state. After three days of solitude, silence, and darkness, he was stir-crazy. Upon waking from a nightmarish sleep and finding his situation unchanged, and with no indication of change to come, he burst into a set of crazed movements, slamming his knees, elbows, knuckles, and even his forehead against the sides and top of his enclosure. He was desperate to stretch, to stand, to remove the pressure from his back that had been causing him pain for days. When his actions proved fruitless, he fell back sobbing openly, letting his despair flourish and grip him tightly as the only friend he had left.

The only human contact he'd had in the past few days, if it could be called that, came from the short moments he was fed water through the small hole in the lid of the box. The one who brought him hydration never spoke outside of telling him to put his mouth to the lid. And no amount of shouting or threatening on Cloud's part changed that.

On top of everything, Jenova had been prodding him again. She'd been 'nice' enough to leave him be while he was conscious but still stalked his dream-world. The night before, it seemed like she had been waiting for him. Her strange, unearthly voice filled the darkness in his mind, drawing him in like a bug to a light. He hated the way he felt he almost needed to go to her. But he was terrified of being alone and of spending another day in silence with no one to talk to. He hated Jenova, and he hated himself for needing her. But he did need her. He listened to her as she tried to persuade him to let her be a more important part of his life. And she was certainly good at persuading. She wasted no time in appealing to his emotions.

"You're all alone, Cloud. There is no one to love you and care for you. Not when all those you've cared about have been taken away," she spoke softly, disguised in one of her many people-suits. "Will you turn away the only care and love for you that's left?"

"I don't know what I should do anymore," Cloud responded sullenly. It was more to himself than her. "I've lost more than just people…" He thought then of the blank space where memories of his hometown should have been. He'd tried not to think of it but it was difficult not to. He wanted to fill that space in so desperately but no matter how long he beat his head against the hypothetical wall, it never got any less empty.

"Past memories are not important," Jenova cooed into his ear. "They don't determine your destiny."

_That may be truth…But it doesn't make me miss them any less_, he thought to himself.

"You don't even know what you're missing," Jenova interrupted his inner contemplations. It annoyed him that she seemed able to read his mind. "You went 7 days without knowing you were missing anything at all," she added sharply.

_6 Days…What happened 6 days ago?_ He tried to think back to that day. It would have been around when he'd tried to break himself and Zack out of the lab. _Maybe when I was shot, somehow my—_

The truth hit him suddenly and he felt instantly stupid for not having made the connection sooner.

"You took them," he whispered in realization, turning his eyes on Jenova. "That's what you took." She didn't deny it, just stared down at him as he made that terrible discovery. "Oh God," he muttered as a sick feeling began to take him over.

"You had a choice," Jenova responded coolly.

In a second, his anger could have been ignited at her statement. If she had not been right. He had himself to blame. He had allowed her to take those memories from him in exchange for her aid. He'd lost something he cherished, just so that he could be lent strength in some of his weaker moments.

But Jenova was not at all innocent. If she had told him what she would be stealing away from him, he may not have agreed to her deals.

"I want them back," he said as he rose to his feet.

"What?" she questioned with a mocking laugh.

"I want my memories back!" he shouted at her. She became serious quickly.

"You can't take back a deal you've already made. They aren't your memories anymore. They aren't important anyway."

"Who the hell are you to decide that?!" he challenged heatedly.

"A mother knows best," she hissed at him behind devilish eyes.

"Get away from me," Cloud ordered angrily then. "You're nothing to me. Forget following me around. You're never going to manipulate me again!" he shouted. A smile crept across her face.

"Oh, Cloud. I don't need to come to you," she claimed. "You'll come to me. And there's not a thing you'll be able to do to stop that."

With her final words having been spoken, she discharged him from his sleep, throwing him back into the wooden box where he lay, feeling like he was about to explode in a mixture of rage and sadness.

000

Zack took note of the calendar on the day he was sent from the med-sector back to the cell he shared with Cloud. It was June 21st. Summer had just about arrived. He used to love the season. Now he barely remembered what it felt like to stand outside with the sun beating down on him while a soft breeze blew by, rustling his hair lightly. He and Cloud had spent over three years feeling only the cold of their basement surroundings, with the exception of simulations. He almost wished to be exposed to another program via transmitter helmet if it meant having some time to interact with the outside world.

He had been disappointed to find the cell unoccupied when he was brought to it. He'd hoped Cloud would be there when he entered. While he was instantly a little worried, he assumed his friend was undergoing mako treatment or something of the like so he didn't feel too panicked.

It wasn't until he was brought to the lab several hours later and discovered that again Cloud wasn't present, that his nerves sparked up. If he wasn't in their cell and he wasn't in the lab, then where was he?


	47. Note

Hey guys,

Another note. I'm so sorry it's not a chapter. Also, if you read 'Dreams Incarnate' this note will be a little repetitive. My family's had an incredible string of bad luck the past 4 weeks. Because of that, a lot of my free time has been spent at hospitals or with my family so I haven't had much time to write. As I mentioned before, I'm heading away on vacation this weekend (today actually). I can't say for sure that I won't be able to update from there but I don't think I'll be spending a lot of time writing either. I really appreciate your patience and support so please stick around for the end of this story, there's another 5 or so chapters left until its completion.

See you soon,

Jaydee


	48. Chapter 45

_Hi guys! Well I'm back from vacation. First, I'd like to thank everyone who wished me and my family well as we've had a string of bad luck lately. Hopefully things get better. I'm sorry if there are a lot of errors in this chapter. I was excited to submit it since you've all been waiting so long so i didn't give it as thorough a look-through as I could have. Also, I've been working on getting replies to your reviews to you. I sent out around 50 tonight and got about 50 to go. I was hoping to have all replies out before updating but I wasn't going to make you wait any longer than you had to lol. Well that's all from me. Updates should be fairly regular now that I'm back. It will still probably be another week before I have an update for DI though. Don't hate me :( _

_Take care guys, I'll catch ya'll later!_

Chapter XLV

"_Z1_," the voice of the professor spoke from across the lab where the man was seated at his desk. Zack observed him silently. He noticed for the first time how haggard the professor had seemed to grow over the years that he and Cloud had been in captivity. His age had become quite apparent. Strands of grey intermingled with black in his hair. He hunched more than he used to. He also seemed somewhat thinner, something that didn't seem possible, given he had been thin to begin with. Yet, despite his frail appearance, it made him no less threatening or lethal. "You've decided to stick around awhile longer," he spoke up again. "How lovely." His tone was dripping in condescension.

"Where's Cloud?" Zack questioned firmly, too tired to bother with any sort of insulting comeback, though there were several that had popped into his head instantly.

"He is _unavailable_ at the moment," Hojo replied, turning to look at Zack. Something flashed behind his eyes. Something that made his evil nature more apparent.

"What the hell does that mean?" Zack fired back at him fast, feeling himself get warmer as he grew close to anger.

"Use your head, Z1. It means he's _not here_," Hojo responded, turning back to the paperwork he had been looking through. He spoke again before Zack could come back with a reply. "Try not to get yourself too worked up, Z1, I know now how fragile you can be. C4 will be joining us shortly."

"And in the meantime?" Zack asked, wishing to God he were stronger so he could launch himself at the professor and choke the life out of him. Or perhaps snap his neck. A little quick, perhaps not as satisfying but everything would be over. He and Cloud would be free.

"In the meantime…you're going to be getting acquainted with the testing chamber," Hojo responded disinterestedly, not bothering to look back at Zack. The goon who'd brought him from his cell to the lab started to push him toward one of the cylinders. He didn't put up any resistance.

When the door slid shut behind him, he noticed the goon still standing in front of the tube. He was glancing back at Hojo who had risen from his chair and headed toward them. He punched in a code and water began to rise from the grate below. He turned away promptly and headed for the door, barking a command for the goon to stand guard until he returned. As soon as he'd stepped out of the room, the goon turned to face Zack. A smile came over his face.

"You wanna know where your friend is?" he questioned. Every muscle in Zack's body clenched up at the mention of Cloud. "The prof's got him locked up. _Alone_…in the _dark_."

"What?" Zack asked firmly, trying to ignore the water rising up over his knees.

"He acts tough, but he screams and cries like a little fuckin' baby in his sleep," the goon added, the smile on his face widening.

"You son of a bitch!" Zack shouted angrily as he threw his fist into the glass in front of him. He was forced to take the air mask offered to him when the water reached his face. All he could do then was stare back at the goon firmly until he turned away. While he had been worried about Cloud to begin with, now he was terrified for him. He told himself at first that the goon could be lying but he knew almost certainly what he'd said was truth, or at least part of it was. The idea that Cloud was locked up somewhere alone in the dark was something that had Hojo written all over it. Whether Cloud had been screaming and crying in his sleep or not…that was a different story. He only hoped that part had been a lie.

It wasn't until the next morning that Cloud was brought to the lab to join Zack. He'd been sleeping uneasily when the lab assistants came for him. He woke instantly at the sound of the door opening. Something was different, he knew that right away. There was more than one person entering the room. His heart and stomach leapt as he thought of the possibility they were here to take him from the box he'd been trapped in for days. His wishful thinking seemed to be confirmed when the sound of footsteps approached him and a key was fed into a lock on the side of the container. A part of the side panel was slid open and light flooded in, forcing Cloud to turn his face away. Before he knew what was happening, hands were grabbing for his right arm, holding it firmly so a syringe could be inserted. He struggled a bit then, as much as the small space around him allowed. He demanded to know what was going on but like the good servants to Hojo they were, they said nothing.

Once the injection had been given to Cloud, his arm was released and shoved back in the box so the panel could be shut. Fear fell upon him instantly as he assumed he was being left alone once again. Before he could call out, the top panel above him was unlocked and slid down. He was hit with a rush of cool air that seemed to attach itself to his sweat. Immediately, he wanted to get up and out of the confines of the box but the lab assistants wouldn't allow it, and though he struggled against their hold on him he was weak, not only from spending days locked up barely able to move, but also from the sedative that must have been in the injection he was given.

His eyes were shut tight, blocking out the lights overhead that threatened to burn through his pupils to the back of his head given the chance. He couldn't see what was coming at him until it hit him. A continuous stream of icy water, splashing over his body and chilling him instantly. His eyes shot open and he arched his body upward as instinct told him to get away from the harsh cold. He could have jumped from that box in half a second had two of the lab assistants not been holding him down.

The wash-down bordered on painful, attacking him with a force that made him feel he was being prodded with a thousand forks. The water found its way to his newly obtained wounds, breaking through the thin scabs, making them sting fiercely. His weak protests for the liquid beating to stop were drowned out when the water hit his face, filling his mouth while some of it found its way into his nasal passages. One small inhale and he was coughing violently. He tore his right arm from the grip of the one assistant and, swinging as hard as he could manage, he hit the assistant to his left, sending him backwards.

No longer being held down, Cloud gripped the left panel of the box and pulled himself out and onto the cement floor. The hose that was being used to soak him was shut off and the assistant wielding it shouted something to one of the others. Cloud was unsure of what it was; his ears were full of water. He pulled himself across the floor on his stomach, trying to put distance between himself and the assistants. He knew it would prove fruitless in the end but for the moment he just wanted to get away from the chance of being showered down again. A hand closed around his one ankle and he kicked it away promptly, turning his eyes forward again. It was then he realized he was crawling his way to nowhere. The door was on the opposite side of the room. He did, however, catch a glimpse at one very disturbing sight. Straight ahead were at least 5 other wooden boxes like the one he'd been locked in. There were pieces of paper tacked to the sides of 3 of them. Each had a letter and number written on the paper. _There are other people inside them_, Cloud thought to himself in horror. But they'd made no noises. Not once had he heard a sound not made by himself down there. What did that mean? Were the people inside kept sedated? We're they even alive? Perhaps they were really empty and the paper tags just left on the boxes. There was no way to be sure without looking inside them. Two of the assistants grabbed onto him then.

"Jesus, Barker, what the hell did you inject him with? Saline?" one of them said in annoyance.

"It was the usual tranquilizer, it should have taken effect by now," the one named Barker snapped back at him.

"Well give him another dose! The professor wants him docile and ready to be prepped for the procedure _before_ he gets to the lab, no more wasting time on trying to keep control of the test subjects."

"Another dose? I already gave him the max amount for his body mass."

"Who gives a shit? Starting today he's gonna be so drugged up it'll make a few shots of benzos seem like nothing."

Up until that point, while the assistants were holding onto him, keeping him pinned to the floor, Cloud had lay semi-still, eager to learn what he could from the assistants' conversation. But upon hearing he was on his way to the lab for something likely to be either uncomfortable, painful, or both, he decided he wasn't going to make things easy for the assistants. He began to struggle again as he felt the tip of a needle pressing against his upper arm. He did everything he could to prevent that needle from entering his flesh. He put up a pretty good fight for about a minute. The only problem was that he _had_ been sedated and it was effective enough to keep him from gaining any real upper hand. While he did manage to keep the one named Barker from giving him a second injection, he managed very little else outside of making the assistants more annoyed. The sad excuse for a fight had to end eventually.

It ended when one of the goons, Tyson, was called into the room. He was willing to do what the others wouldn't. He charged in and took control, pushing one of the assistants aside so he could get access to Cloud. He turned him over onto his back. Cloud saw his booted heel coming towards his face and he lifted his hands to block it. He grabbed hold of Tyson's foot and held on. The goon struggled to pull his boot loose while two of the assistants retook Cloud's arms. This time, Tyson's boot came down on Cloud's chest. He used the knee of his other leg to pin down Cloud's left forearm while Barker inserted the syringe he'd been holding onto. Cloud groaned as he felt the needle enter his arm. For some reason he had the feeling like things were going to take a drastic turn. Like he was at the end and beginning of something at the same time.

This time, the sedative took over quickly, dulling and numbing him, taming him. Stealing away any fight he had left. A minute later, his limp body was being strapped to a gurney. He struggled to stay alert. He knew that with each passing moment he'd be growing groggier and closer to unconsciousness.

000

Inside the lab, Zack caught the first glimpse of his friend that he'd had in what seemed like forever. His heart ached to see him strapped down, soaking wet, and seemingly unconscious. Hojo looked up from the surgical tray he was preparing.

"Move him onto the exam table," he ordered. The assistants complied, unclipping the straps holding Cloud down and lifting him onto the table top. He was shaking despite being sedated. "Remove his shirt and pants," the professor instructed next.

Zack watched them strip his friend down to his boxers. Following that, Cloud's limbs were locked into the metal restraints on the table. It was then that his eyes made contact with Zack's, revealing that he wasn't unconscious at all. Zack saw those blue eyes widen slightly and a distinct expression form on his friend's face. Surprise. Cloud was surprised to see him.

_He's alive_, Cloud thought to himself as he watched Zack floating inside one of the glass cylinders nearby. Not just alive, but awake! He'd believed for sure that he was never going to see him again. Knowing now that he was alright, he felt an urgent need to talk to him. He needed to tell him about Jenova, about how she was responsible for his lost memories. He didn't want the same thing to happen to Zack should she appear to him with her 'prepositions.'

His attention was drawn back to Hojo as he spoke.

"We're going to begin a regimen of drug therapy," he explained and his assistants nodded. "A growth hormone will be administered to both specimens. If predictions are correct, it will produce an increase in muscle mass, energy, and bone density, while decreasing body fat and stimulating better functioning of the immune system. In addition, both specimens will be administered anabolic steroids once a day. Specimen Z1 will also be administered a series of stimulants."

Zack and Cloud exchanged brief glances. Hojo continued.

"There is a mako procedure I wish to test on C4 that will hopefully enhance muscular strength. It is clear that Z1 possesses physical qualities not present in C4. It is our goal to produce these qualities synthetically in C4. It is a procedure that has never been done before and of course it will not be tested until his body has accommodated the drug therapy. Until then mako will only be administered to Z1 via respiration." The professor motioned toward the tray he'd prepped, reaching for one of the syringes laid upon it. "Let's begin."

_Let's begin._ Cloud knew he'd been right, when he'd felt his return to the lab to be the beginning of something. It was the beginning of a new stage of experimentation. And the end of any type of control he had over himself and his actions. He knew that to be truth when days began to pass and he still had not been released from the exam table. Zack must have noticed the change as well…

000

A week passed and Zack and Cloud remained in the lab. Not once had Zack set foot outside the glass cylinder, nor had Cloud been released from the examination table. Zack wasn't sure what effects he should have been experiencing from the drugs he was administered. What he did know is that he had gone days without sleeping and had alternating feelings of extreme hunger and extreme nausea. Most of the time he felt dizzy and weak but occasionally was afflicted with strange bursts of energy and no way to exert it. It was a different kind of torture.

Despite his preoccupations with his own welfare, Cloud was always on his mind. A constant thought that flickered like a small fire on a pitch black night. Cloud hadn't moved much since being strapped down to that cold exam table days earlier, on account of being sedated nearly continuously. Zack was dying to talk to him. He had tried a few times, when the cylinder was drained and he and Cloud were left alone in the lab a short while. But Cloud always seemed to be asleep. It couldn't have been completely to do with the sedatives but Zack couldn't blame him. He'd kill for the chance to be able to make himself sleep. It seemed the only way to escape their surroundings. He'd sleep all day if he could.

At the beginning of the second week, Hojo announced it was time to test the new mako procedure he'd developed on Cloud. From what Zack was able to gather, the professor had combined mako and steroids into a compound that would be injected directly into Cloud's muscle tissue. Zack knew in his gut that this wasn't going to end well.

Cloud stirred when the first needle was inserted into his arm. He made a few small movements in his fingers, indicating he was somewhere near consciousness. Four injections were given to him, one in each of his bicep muscles, and one in each of his thigh muscles. It was nearly ten minutes before he gave any indication that the mako infusion was having any affect on him. After fifteen minutes, not even the paralytic he'd been administered could keep him still. His body seemed to move on its own accord, straining and writhing in the metal restraints clamped tight over his limbs. His eyes were shut tightly and his teeth were bared as he began to groan deeply, the sounds guttural and eerie. There were a few panted gasps before the first cries of pain broke way.

What started as something bearable to watch quickly descended into something else as screams began to tear themselves from Cloud's throat. One after the next, long and terrible, like something from an animal. Zack felt panicked and helpless, mentally screaming himself for someone to do something.

Cloud's body was visibly swelling, if only a few centimeters or so. For what seemed like an eternity, Hojo and his staff only watched, a few of the assistants obviously hiding the great discomfort they felt. The professor acted eventually, taking a scalpel and making a long incision in the top of Cloud's right thigh. Zack couldn't make out what they could see. Couldn't see the thigh muscle tearing as it expanded. But he could see Cloud's arms pulling against the restraints furiously, the metal bruising and cutting into the skin of his wrists and inner elbows. It was like a horror movie scene and there was no way to get away from it. Hojo looked concerned. Not for Cloud's well-being but because he seemed to have just started something he had no control over.

Zack wanted to believe Cloud wasn't feeling as much as his screams seemed to indicate. He wanted to imagine him as only partially aware. But Cloud _was _aware. As opposed to the sedatives, the paralytic agent he'd been given did nothing to alter his mind or mental state. The apparently did nothing to numb his pain receptors either because what he was feeling was torture and beyond. It felt as it was in reality. Like his body was being torn apart on the inside. The pressure was almost worse. Like he was being ground into the metal surface below him. He thought he was dying. He _wanted _to die. Just to make it stop.

Stunned, and unsure of what to do, no one in the room made a move until the first sounds of something breaking became evident somewhere between Cloud's screams. Someplace in his body a bone was being crushed slowly. Zack's enhanced hearing could pick it up also. He felt sick instantly. He began shaking, his adrenaline was pumping so fast. Everything in him was dying to break out of the tank and do something to fix the situation. But he wouldn't know what to do even if he were standing in place of Hojo. Finally, the professor barked an order, snapping his staff to action. Zack watched them give Cloud several injections. After a long, gut-wrenching moment, his screams ended to be replaced by panting gasps for air. Short groans and weak sounds resembling expressions of pain could still be heard.

"Get the intravenous equipment in here now!" Hojo instructed loudly. "The diluting agent's going to need to be administered continuously," he added. Two of his four assistants left the lab quickly. "Quite the unexpected negative reaction the mako compound had in combination with the steroids," he spoke to his other two assistants.

_Unexpected negative reaction_. Zack heard those words and felt them biting at his very core. The man proved once again he was anything but human.

When the other lab assistants returned to the lab once again, Cloud was hooked up to the IV. He was fully unconscious by then, having exhausted himself with his own expressions of agony. He retreated back into the darkness, happy to get away from his anguish. The cut on his thigh was stitched by Hojo, but no attempts were made to tend the more minor cuts on his wrists and elbows. Doctor Gunan was brought in not long after to find which bone—or bones—had been broken and to fix them. It turned out to be his left humerus.

Zack wasn't able to watch the procedure. He wasn't normally squeamish but because it was his friend and because what he'd just witnessed about an hour before had made him feel sicker than he had in a while, he just couldn't do it. He shut his eyes and imagined himself away.

000

If anyone was unsure of just how thorough a scientist Hojo was, they could be rest-assured at the end of the day that he was, in fact, thorough. And the biggest asshole to walk the face of the earth as far as Zack was concerned. Only a week earlier, the professor had attempted to fuse steroids with mako and injected it directly into Cloud's muscles, theorizing that it would create a more efficient enhancement. One would think he'd have accepted it wasn't going to work judging by the results he had gotten. Yet, there he was, ready for attempt number two, the only difference being a time delay of 2 hours between the steroid injections and mako compound injections.

This time around, Zack knew Cloud was wide-awake, outside of being under the influence of a paralytic. His eyes were open, wide and fearful. A nearby monitor displaying his racing heartbeat as he was administered the first injections. Tears ran from the corners of his eyes as he anticipated the inevitable pain. He never looked at Zack though. Zack was happy. His heart was already breaking but one pleading look from his friend and he knew he wouldn't be able to take it. He'd crumple into the ball of uselessness he was.

Whatever results Hojo had been expecting or hoping for, he didn't get them. The outcome was the same as it had been before. Cloud's muscles expanding and tearing, his screams echoing off the lab walls. The staff was quicker to act however, administering the "diluting agent" before things got out of hand and more bones were broken.

Hojo gave up then, needing more time to figure out what his next move should be. Cloud's body, in his mind, was still inefficient and he was determined to change it. In the meantime, he'd come up with a different method of mako delivery that he wanted to test first on Cloud.

It was always Cloud now. Zack suspected he knew why. He had known for some time. Cloud was closer to "perfection" than he was. Not physically perhaps, but he had reacted to the Jenova cells given to him. That was more important than anything else to Hojo. Still, he knew the professor obviously still had plans for him or he wouldn't be keeping him around. He was kept in the tank constantly, breathing mako vapor 8 hours of the day with a 2-hour break after the first four hours. Sometime after the 8 hours, the tube was drained and he was left to choose whether to stand or sit himself on the grated platform at his feet to await the next round. Intravenous tubes were attached to him at all times, fed through a small opening in the top of the cylinder. He had been advised from the day they'd been inserted not to pull them out because they offered the only form of hydration and food he would be getting. He fiddled with them sometimes, when he was bored out of his mind and huddled up against the glass of the tank, hoping for sleep to come and break the monotony. Up until that point, Cloud had been strapped to the exam table and constantly sedated. But it seemed things were about to change.

It was early morning. Zack was able to tell the time of day accurately since being kept in the lab because several of the monitoring machines were outfitted with digital clocks. Hojo looked to be preparing for some sort of surgery, commencing with his sterilization procedures that were a little less than hospital-quality. One of his assistants administered either a sedative or paralytic to Cloud just as he'd been given every morning, midday, and night in the past weeks. He continued to slumber, despite the presence of a needle in his arm. He'd grown too accustomed to the feeling to have any real reaction anymore, unless the injection was given at a particularly bruised spot in his skin.

The lab assistants began prepping him then. They cleansed several areas on his arms and chest, removing the restraints to get at the dried blood beneath them. Hojo brought over a tray outfitted with surgical tools and several of something else that was difficult for Zack to make out from where he was. His first mako treatment had already begun so the water in front of him was obscuring his view. The doctor arrived before the procedure began.

"Morning, doctor," Hojo greeted him casually as he started spreading iodine over a few places on Cloud's right arm.

"Morning, professor," Gunan replied as he headed for the sink to wash up.

Zack shook his head. They were acting like some medical staff from a hospital about to perform some routine operation. It was sickening.

"We'll be doing the ulnar and radial arteries first, then the right and left subclavian veins, followed up by the vertebral artery and spinal column," Hojo spoke and the doctor and assistants nodded.

_What the fuck is he doing now?_ Zack wondered internally.


	49. Chapter 46

_Hi everyone! Thanks for all your reviews on the last chapter. I gots nothin' much else to say except read on and enjoy! _

_Discaimer: No own FF. _

Chapter XLVI

"Are we ready, doctor?" Hojo asked in a tone that seemed to be hiding some urgency. His assistants had just finished prepping Cloud. The professor was excited for whatever surgery he'd cooked up. Zack could see that. He didn't know that he wanted to watch whatever procedure was going to be done on Cloud now, but his curiosity was too overbearing. He would watch. At least until he had a better understanding of what was being done. Cloud, at least, seemed to be thoroughly unconscious and under the affects of the drugs he'd been administered. He didn't move at all or make any indication he felt an incision being made into his right wrist. Hojo called for forceps and clamps. One of his assistants held the incision open with the forceps while he attached the clamps to something. Zack couldn't see all that clearly from where he was.

"Cutting the vein now," Hojo announced.

_Cutting the vein? _Zack questioned silently. _What the hell is he doing?_

"Hand me the first port," the professor ordered and one of his assistants complied, picking up what looked like a small metal tube, only a few millimeters in diameter and only about an inch long, and handed it to him. "Get the vessel clips ready," he said next and more small, barely visible, metal objects from Zack's point of view were retrieved off a tray. They disappeared a minute later into Cloud's wrist. The clamps and forceps were removed as Hojo prepared his suture materials. "Give me a bolt," he commanded. One of the assistants handed him something relatively flat and round, but again not large enough to really make out in detail.

"The first implant was successful," the professor remarked as he was applying stitches to the incision in Cloud's wrist. Zack squinted hard to see. The 'bolt' appeared to be resting on top of the incision. No, it was inside the incision. The cut was being stitched closed _around_ the small metal circle. He didn't understand. He wished Hojo would announce it like he usually did. '_And now we're going to do something that will probably hurt and not work in the slightest but we're going to do it anyway. This is why...' _Zack imagined the professor saying. "Doctor, please prepare for the next one," Hojo said instead.

The doctor reached for a scalpel and readied himself to make an incision in Cloud's left wrist, in a similar location as the incision in his right wrist had been made. Zack turned away, not needing to see anything more. Hojo had mentioned about 8 different sites he was going to 'implant.' It was going to be a long morning.

000

When the surgery on Cloud had finished, Hojo had his assistants drain Zack's cylinder. He and Cloud were left in the lab alone while the professor and his staff went God knows where. _To lunch probably_, Zack thought. To eat like normal people, like he and Cloud used to. They weren't even given solid food anymore. It was all in nutrient liquid form, fed to them intravenously.

Zack let his tired eyes fall on his friend. Cloud was still unconscious. Traces of blood marked the places where incisions had been made that morning. There were four areas he could see that had been implanted with metal tubes and covered with circular disks. One in his left wrist, one in the middle of his left forearm, and another two in his chest just below his collar bone on either side. There were more he couldn't see from his vantage point. Two in his right arm and two in his back. It was like something from a science fiction story. The worst thing about the whole nightmarish surgery was that Cloud had no idea what had been done to him. He went to sleep one way and was going to wake up to see something had drastically changed. Zack couldn't begin to imagine how he'd react. He knew if it were himself he'd be freaking out.

For hours, Cloud lay unmoving. Zack knew because for hours he'd done nothing but stare at him. He hadn't been able to sleep much since the drug "therapy" began a few weeks earlier. He had preoccupied himself with daydreaming over that time, but even that was becoming hard to do._ I'm becoming zombified_, he thought to himself. He smirked a little at the thought. Another thing he missed. Lame zombie movies. He glanced at the clock on the nearest monitor. 4:49.

Still lying on the exam table, Cloud began to move, slightly at first, barely noticeable, but moments later he was pulling in his restraints weakly, the sound of metal hitting metal as the 'ports' in his wrists met with the metal of the restraints. Zack couldn't tell for sure but it looked like he was sweating. He knocked on the glass in front of him, trying to get his friend's attention. Cloud's head turned his way slowly but his eyes were shut and he was groaning quietly.

"Spikey," Zack called out to him. Cloud made no indication he'd heard him. "Spike! What's wrong?" he questioned worriedly.

Cloud responded by throwing up, the vomit leaving his mouth only to find its way to the steel table top next to his face. There wasn't much and it was mostly bile and water but it still couldn't have been nice to lie next to, especially when some of it was bound to end up in Cloud's hair.

Cloud was shivering then and the fact that he made no effort to turn away from what he'd just disposed of on the table seemed to indicate either he had actually been unconscious or he was conscious and just didn't care enough to move. Zack hoped it was the former. He'd already thrown up several times himself since the new drug therapy had begun. Fortunately, it had been while the tank was drained and he was able to expel his stomach contents into the grate in the floor. It wasn't ideal but it was better than what Cloud got.

By the time two of the assistants entered the lab, Cloud had vomited twice more. The assistants didn't seem pleased. One of them called Hojo. Shortly after, it looked as if they were preparing to release him from his restraints.

"When was the last sedation?" the one assistant questioned the other.

"Three hours ago," the other replied.

"Should we dose him?" the first asked then.

"No. The professor wants him alert for the infusion at seven-thirty. Pecklin's on his way down to help if he gets out of hand. He should still be pretty groggy anyway," the second explained as he was filling something in one of the sinks. The first looked over at Zack, who'd been observing silently from where he was sitting on the floor of his tank. Zack recognized him as one of the newer assistants. Over the time he and Cloud had been there, they'd seen several come and go. His best guess was that Hojo had had 11 different assistants working for him over that time, 5 at a time, with only 3 being originals. Further, there had been 8 different goons, only one of which had been one of the original four hired. There had been 2 doctors. You could always tell when an assistant was new. Not because he looked different. In fact, most of them had the same 'look.' All wore either brown or black pants and grey or white shirts, and of course the same lab coats. Hair and eye colours varied, but very few had had anything distinguishing about themselves. Zack thought they all looked like the science geeks he frequently made fun of at the Academy. But the newer ones, though they always tried to hide it, displayed that spark of surprise and apprehension when they first began working in the lab and around himself and Cloud. For the first few weeks, there was something else there too, an inner feeling of horror that was only just visible to those looking for it. For the first few weeks, they showed small flickers of guilt. After that…they were just scientists.

Hojo had been very convincing with his new recruits. Every time a new assistant came to him, he made sure he explicitly explained how important his research was and how, while at one time, the 'specimens' had been people, they were now inhuman, no better than the hundreds of monsters that were destroyed each year by Shinra and its team of SOLDIERs. The specimens were only mindless animals inside human-like shells. They'd destroy anyone or anything if it suited them.

It was a package of lies that sold very well. It was all most of the people working for Hojo needed to hear to sleep better at night. Still, there had been the few that couldn't handle it. They were usually gone after a month or so.

Zack studied the assistant staring back at him now. He was younger than most of the other assistants. Fresh out of graduate school perhaps. His dark brown eyes held that notable unsure gaze of a newbie. Numerous things rushed into Zack's head that he could say to the new assistant. He had tried with other new recruited workers in the past to talk to them and try to get them on his and Cloud's side but it had never worked. Syrus had been the last humane person they'd run into in that place. He thought about telling the young assistant to screw off and stop inspecting him like a piece of meat but he took the third option. He said nothing. Over the past week, the only person he'd been interested in talking to was Cloud. Everyone else was a waste of time. He couldn't recall a time in his life he'd gone so long without uttering a word.

The new assistant took a few steps closer to his cylinder, narrowing his eyes a little as he stared down at Zack. His nametag became visible enough to read. D. Germaine. Zack missed having a name. He'd never thought about it before because he'd had Cloud around to continually remind him he had one. But he hadn't heard his name said in weeks now. Only Z1…It didn't even seem strange to hear anymore. The new assistant spoke suddenly.

"Hey," he called to the other assistant who was punching in a code on the pad next to the table to open the restraints on Cloud's arms and legs. "What's this one's name?" he questioned. "I mean, what _was _his name?" he corrected himself as he looked back at his co-worker. The other assistant gave him a scolding look.

"No idea," he answered casually.

"I think I know him from somewhere…" the young assistant said quietly, more to himself than his co-worker. As soon as he said that, Zack became immediately more alert. He began searching his memory bank for a time when he may have come into contact with anyone with the last name Germaine.

"Come give me a hand will ya?" the other assistant called to him impatiently. He abandoned his place at Zack's tank to help him lift Cloud from the table. They took hold of his arms and pulled him up and forward. A pained cry tore itself from Cloud as he was forced to sit up. It had been nearly three weeks since he'd done so. Most of the time he'd spent lying on his back, occasionally being turned onto his stomach to prevent him from developing sores. He was conscious now, though his head hung in front of him heavily.

Zack got a pretty good look at the metal ports on his back as the assistants were pushing and pulling him off the exam table. When his feet touched the stone floor, he collapsed immediately, falling to his hands and knees. He vomited once again and the assistants stepped back.

"Goddammit," the older of the two cursed.

"Why's he so sick?" Germaine questioned, watching Cloud with a mild sympathetic disgust.

The other shrugged. "He's pumped full of all sorts of crap right now. Who the hell knows? Could just be from the recent mako injections, or the surgery this morning." he suggested. Cloud had been listening the best he could, his ears seeming only partially functional like the rest of himself. _What surgery?_ he wondered in confusion. At that same moment, he noticed something protruding slightly from his chest, if only a few millimeters. It was shiny so it caught his eye as the lights above reflected off it.

"What the hell…" he said, too quiet for anyone to hear.

"Done yet?" the older assistant spoke down at Cloud then, nudging one of his legs with the tip of his shoe. Cloud made no response besides panting and shaking. The assistants reached down and grabbed hold of Cloud's arms once again, pulling him toward the center of the room. They dragged him across on his knees and let him go in front of a small circular drain in the floor. A goon entered the lab then.

"Giving you any trouble?" he questioned as he looked down at Cloud who was leaning over the drain, contemplating throwing up some more. It was making him feel better than he had in days.

"Not _yet_," the older assistant replied, stepping away to the sink where he picked up a bucket of water. He hauled it over to the center of the room and dumped it over Cloud in one motion. Cloud jolted, not expecting it. It wasn't anywhere as cold as the water that had come out of the hose he'd been doused with weeks before but it was cold enough to shock his nearly naked body. Immediately, a hand was grabbing hold of his right wrist, pulling his arm back behind him while another hand on the back of his neck pushed him onto his stomach roughly.

"Stay down or guaranteed you're gonna get somethin' you don't want!" the goon shouted down at him. Cloud made a few small sounds of pain as the goon was gripping his arm tightly. The goon held his position a few seconds before releasing his arm and stepping back.

"He doesn't really seem all that threatening," Germaine stated as he watched.

"No, he doesn't. But he is. He's killed three people since he was brought here for experimentation," the other assistant explained.

"Who'd he kill?"

"An enforcer, a Shinra guard, and a Turk."

"A Turk?" Germaine said in surprise.

"Never underestimate him. Or the other one," the goon advised. Germaine glanced back over at Zack.

Cloud lay still on his stomach, his arms close to his upper body, as another bucket of water was poured over him, washing away remnants of blood, sweat, and vomit. He thought about what the one assistant had said. About how he'd killed. Only once had it been by accident. The other times were purposeful. He had intended to kill. He was a murderer. He was struck with a renewed sickness but it wasn't in his stomach. It was in his heart.

He was left for a few moments, shivering and soaking wet on the floor while he watched the assistants preparing the cylinder next to Zack's. He was acutely aware of a window of opportunity. For an escape attempt. Right then, she spoke. She. _Her_. Jenova. She hadn't said anything to him in days. The last thing she said was that she didn't need to come to Cloud anymore. That he would go to her when he needed to. But he hadn't. He wondered if that had made her angry.

Her voice came to him as a whisper in his ear. "The lab door is unlocked, Cloud…you could take out the enforcer and the one assistant. Keep the younger one as a hostage until you free your friend and get out of the building. He's new and will be unsure of what to do…"

Cloud didn't respond to her but he listened silently. No way he'd be able to do all that. Not in his weakened condition.

"You can't do it on your own…" Jenova echoed his thoughts. "I can help. You and your friend can be free."

_Free_, Cloud thought. He wouldn't know what to do with freedom if he had it. Zack would know what to do. He shifted his gaze to his friend, seeing him move closer to the glass of his container when their eyes met.

"Another trade?" Cloud whispered aloud then. Zack saw his lips move and wondered what he was saying. Was he talking to him?

_More of my memories_, he thought, knowing she'd probably hear him whether he spoke aloud or not.

"I need more," she responded softly, in a strangely comforting tone.

_What are you asking for? _he questioned.

"Your service…" she hissed.

He didn't know what that meant but he didn't want that offer. She was offering to help him free himself and Zack, only to have that freedom taken away again. That's what her offer had sounded like.

"No," he breathed aloud.

"No what?" the goon asked as he grabbed hold of one of Cloud's arms, lifting him up with the help of the older lab assistant. Cloud made a half-hearted attempt at getting to his feet, wanting to avoid being dragged across the floor on his knees again and having more skin scraped off them.

He stepped shakily into the open cylinder where he slid down to the grated floor, holding his arms to his chest and trying to keep heat from escaping his shivering body.

"You've made a big mistake," Jenova said to him, her tone severe. He made no response to her as he watched the glass door panel slide shut on his cylinder with a hiss.

The two assistants and the goon left Zack and Cloud alone in the lab then, shutting off the main lights that left them in near darkness, with the only light sources coming from dim, green lights above the cylinders.

"Spike," Zack spoke from the cylinder to his right. Cloud was reluctant to turn his head but he did so, meeting his friend's eyes once again. Zack smiled and Cloud realized suddenly how much he'd missed that smile. It was so strangely reassuring even in the worst times. Cloud lowered his head before speaking.

"I thought for sure, that day you went to the med sector, I was never gonna see you again," he responded lowly, his voice breaking a little as he found himself suddenly unable to stop himself from crying. He didn't sob, just sat shaking as the tears were slipping down his cheeks. Zack didn't know what to say at first. It would have been easier if he could have just grabbed his friend and hugged the hell out of him. He'd wanted to since he saw Cloud for the first time after being released from the med sector. After he'd realized what he'd almost lost by nearly giving in and letting himself die.

"Are you okay, Spike?" he asked instead, knowing it was a dumb question but important that he ask all the same.

Cloud shook his head lightly. "I dunno…" he said barely loud enough to hear through the plates of glass.

Every bone and muscle in Cloud's body hurt. His muscle tissue especially had been critically damaged by the combination of mako and steroids that had been given to him in the weeks prior. His left arm ached desperately for some sort of pain relief. Instead of being given a cast for his broken humerus, the bone had been reset and reinforced with steel pins and a rod that was grafted onto the site. And now…

He looked over the small metal circles on his arms and chest. "Why?" he breathed sadly. He wanted to be away from the instruments and people that were destroying him with pain day after day. Jenova had given him the opportunity and he had turned it down. Why? Because of his pride? Because he was stubborn? He didn't know.

"Jenova's been talking to me," he said without really intending to.

"What?" Zack questioned in confusion, not sure he'd heard right.

"She's the reason I can't remember certain things," he went on, without looking Zack's way.

"Spike…uh…how do you know?" Zack asked hesitantly.

"She confessed to it."

Zack wasn't sure what to say then. He was a more than a little shocked at what he was hearing. He was sure Cloud was telling the truth but it seemed so crazy, so impossible.

"She wants me to serve her," Cloud uttered quietly. Zack raised a questioning eyebrow.

"To serve her?" he repeated Cloud's words. "What the hell does that mean?" he inquired critically. Cloud shook his head, indicating he didn't know. "Forget that crazy bitch, buddy—"

"She offered to help us escape," Cloud interrupted, raising his eyes to meet Zack's. Zack wasn't sure what to say back to that. He failed to see how she could do that, but deep inside himself he wanted to believe it. He did know one thing: it wasn't worth it if it meant Cloud was indebted to her. He began to voice that reasoning. "I know," Cloud agreed, cutting him off once again. "I turned her down. But I don't know that I did it all for that reason…"

Zack shook his head slightly, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, even if we got out, what would we do? Where would we go?" he posed. "You can't go back to SOLDIER. I can't go back to the militia. Even if you went to see Aeris, Shinra forces would probably be waiting."

Zack lowered his eyes as he thought of Aeris. The church in the Slums would be one of the first places they'd look for him no doubt, even though he wasn't really sure he'd go there. His relationship with Aeris seemed decidedly over.

"We'd always be running. Hiding," Cloud went on. "What kind of life is that?"

There was silence a few moments before Zack straightened himself a little and replied firmly and surely. "It'll be a life," he declared. "Better than what we have now, even if it's not by much." He studied Cloud for his reaction. It seemed hidden somewhere beneath his emotionless surface. "I'm not giving up. Please don't give up Spike," he urged his friend. It was agonizing to imagine he'd given up hope and yet he had every reason to.

Cloud's only response was to lie himself on his side on the floor of his cylinder, his arms hugging his chest and his knees drawn close to his chin. There was just enough space in the container to allow him to do so. Zack sighed in defeat, sitting back against the cold glass of his own cylinder and dejectedly watching his friend. In all likelihood, what Cloud had said had been right. If they ever got out Shinra wasn't just going to let them go. And even if Shinra didn't give a shit, Hojo would certainly want them found. No way he was going to let a project he'd worked on for so long slip out of his grasp. They would never be able to see the people they cared about. It would mean putting them in danger. Further, they'd never be able to work for Shinra or any of its underlying business partners, which essentially meant they were going to have to travel enormous distances to get out of the company's reach.

But even with all that weighing down on them, Zack knew they couldn't give up. Somewhere, there was a life waiting for them. A life they deserved. He'd almost given up before. He wasn't going to do it again.

000

As far as Zack could tell, Cloud had been asleep for about an hour and a half before Hojo returned to the lab with some of his staff. He got straight to business.

"Initiate the neuromuscular-blocking agent," he instructed.

Cloud stirred when he heard the hiss of vapor being released below him. It was extremely fast-acting. As soon as he'd sat himself up, his body went limp and he fell back against the grate. He was still awake however. Cloud had decided early on he preferred sedatives to paralytics. Sedatives had at least a certain numbing effect. It even numbed your mind to a certain extent. All the paralytics did was take motor function out of your control. You were still alert and fully-feeling. It was infuriating and frightening at the same time.

"Hojo!" Zack called out to the professor as he dragged himself to his feet. "What's the point of all this?! We've been here for fucking ever! When does it end?" he questioned sharply.

"When you're ready," Hojo replied without looking at him.

"And when the hell would that be?!" he nearly shouted, slamming the palm of his one hand against the glass in front of him.

"Isn't it time for some more treatment," Hojo muttered to one of his assistants who nodded in understanding and approached the panel next to Zack's tube. A moment later Zack was being forced to shut up as water was filling the tank.

_You won't be able to do this forever_, Zack thought as he reluctantly pressed the air mask offered to him to his face. He watched as Hojo punched in a code on the control panel that released several tubes inside Cloud's cylinder. They weren't plastic like the ones Zack had. They looked to be some kind of metal. Probably steel.

"Attach them to the ports," Hojo instructed. The door to the cylinder was opened and the assistants leaned in, taking hold of each of the tubes. One by one they were pushed through small holes in the centers of the metal discs on Cloud's body and screwed in tightly. He thought of Jenova then. Of how she had looked when Sephiroth found her. Similar tubes had been attached to her as well. _Oh God, _he thought, _what are they turning him into?_

With the tubes attached and an air mask over Cloud's mouth and nose, the cylinder was shut and filled with water. The tubes were retracted into the top of the cylinder a few feet, pulling Cloud's limp body upwards where he began to float inside the liquid around him. Fully submerged, Hojo headed to a panel on the opposite side of the tank, punching in another set of codes and explaining to the assistants that they were beginning with a round of mako. Zack put it together pretty quickly in his head. With the ports strategically placed, anything run through those tubes was going to be sent directly into his arteries.

Immediately, he thought back to what had happed when they were receiving regular injections of mako. Their veins had begun to deteriorate and they'd started to bleed through nearly every orifice. Cloud had almost died that day. He couldn't help but wonder if Hojo was really so stupid as to forget something like that. No, he may have been crazy but he wasn't that stupid. He had thought this whole procedure through thoroughly.

As Zack turned his attention to Cloud's face, looking for any indication of what he was feeling, he saw his eyes widen slightly, a movement that meant so much more while he was under the effects of a paralytic. It meant that a continuous streaming of mako into his body in 8 different places had begun. Although Cloud couldn't show it, Zack knew without a doubt he was screaming inside. Somehow, he could almost feel his pain…


	50. Chapter 47

_Hey guys! Thanks so much for all your reviews on the previous chapter! I'm sorry if it seemed like this chapter was lacking in something. I feel almost like it didn't express the emotion I wanted it to. But of course that's up to you guys to decide. Chapter 48 may be out almost immediately as well. Either later tonight or tomorrow. It's already written, it just needs edited. We'll see, since I'm working on getting the next chapter out for Dreams Incarnate as well. _

_That's all from me for now, _

_Catch ya'll later! _

_Disclaimer: FFVII original elements and story belong to the lovely people at Square Enix. _

Chapter XLVII

The first week and a half that Cloud had been subjected to mako treatments via the steel tubes attached to the metal ports in his skin had been agonizing, not only for Cloud but for Zack as well. Treatments went on for hours and Zack had noticed it wasn't only mako that was administered, but other substances as well. His best guess was that the other substances included a shit load of drugs and vitamins. That wasn't what made the days agonizing though. What made them agonizing was that when the tubes were removed about every 12 hours or so, and the paralytic had worn off, Cloud's vocal cords made themselves heard. Lying on the bottom of his cylinder he would begin to whimper. Whimpers turned to groans. Groans turned into cries of pain that broke away from the glass walls containing them and filled the room. And then, when the pain became too much to bear, Cloud's cries escalated to near screams while he writhed on the grated surface below him, tearing at the floor and the walls, and the menacing ports in his skin. After a time, he'd lose the energy to cry out and he'd be reduced to sobbing instead.

And all Zack could do was watch.

During the first few days, he had tried to talk Cloud through the pain. But he realized early on that there was nothing he could say that would get inside Cloud's head. His agony and the after-affects of whatever he'd been administered made him delirious. He wasn't hearing anything.

Zack became acquainted with his own tears quickly. He was sure he cried more in that first week than he had in his entire life. He had also never prayed more. Prayed and begged. He pleaded for escape. For rescue. For the lab to explode and take both their lives. Anything to make it all stop. To make the pain stop. He was not without his own pain but he could never feel sorry for himself, not when his best friend was in the state he was.

Eventually, after hours of sobbing, Cloud would pass out, exhausted, only to be woken several times during the night by his own body's violent movement. His muscles would spasm and his stomach would lurch, desperate to rid itself of whatever it could.

Disturbingly, Cloud had become so over-dosed with mako even in the first week that it had begun to show in places Zack had never seen before. Wherever there was a vein in his body close to the surface of his skin it appeared to glow. It was very slight, but it was there. The same was true of his finger and toe nails. Also, the blue in the irises of his eyes had nearly disappeared completely. Cloud should have been dead. Zack knew that. And yet he wasn't. He couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with Jenova. He thought back on how there were times when Angeal, Sephiroth, and their once-friend Genesis had all survived something they shouldn't have. They had also been given Jenova's cells.

_"She wants me to serve her." _That's what Cloud had said. _Maybe she needs him_, he contemplated. _Well she's not having him. She can take his memories but she can't take him_, he told himself.

Two weeks after Cloud's new treatments had begun Zack still hadn't been able to talk to him. Well, he did talk but Cloud didn't talk back. Most of the time he knew it was because he was either paralyzed, unconscious, or otherwise unable to speak, but there were the brief segments of time that Zack could tell he just didn't _want_ to talk. He made the decision for whatever reason and was sticking to it. And it was making Zack crazy with guilt. He felt like Cloud was upset with him. That likely wasn't the truth but he couldn't help feeling that way. It made him angry at himself, for not being able to do anything. He would have taken Cloud's place in a second if he could. But he couldn't.

He reached the point one day when he believed things couldn't possibly be worse. He was wrong. At the beginning of the following week Cloud went to sleep, and he didn't wake up. It had happened during one of the treatments. When the treatment was over, the tubes were removed like usual and he was left lying unconscious on the floor of the test cylinder. For the first time, there were no cries of pain, no screams, and no sobbing. Just silence. Not only that, but his body stayed still the entire night. No spasms. No vomiting. Zack knew something was wrong. At first he feared the worst. _He's dying! _was all that ran through his mind at first but next to his cylinder, the monitors were very clearly displaying Cloud's vital signs as stable. He didn't know what to think then. Until morning.

Hojo was as shocked as Zack had been over Cloud's state. When the professor's attempts to wake Cloud failed, the doctor had been called in and Zack knew he would never forget what he said after looking over Cloud. "_He's comatose."_

"The mako," one of the assistants spoke then, looking at the professor.

"I don't think so," Hojo disagreed. Zack looked at him incredulously.

_Not the mako?! What the fuck else would it be?! _He would have loved to voice his opinion had his own treatment not begun already, finding him submerged in water.

"It's something else…" the professor continued. "We'll continue with the treatment. Nothing changes."

Zack thought he was going to be sick. He imagined what that would be like. The one time that Cloud had thrown up into his air mask he'd nearly choked. He pounded on the glass to express his anger with Hojo and his staff. They looked over at him briefly before turning their ignorance on him once again.

000

_Where am I? _Cloud asked himself in awe as he scanned the area around himself. Rolling hills of sweet-smelling grass, a bright horizon in the distance and a vibrant blue, cloudless sky.

"Is it beautiful?" a voice asked from behind him. He didn't need to look back to know who it was. "I created it for you."

"I don't want it," he said sharply as he turned to face who he'd come to see as his enemy. Jenova was in one of her alternate forms as a young woman in a sundress. Her blond hair shifted with the soft breeze in the air.

"I don't think you know what you want anymore, Cloud," she replied softly. "You've chosen imprisonment over freedom, pain over pleasure, and not only have you chosen them for yourself but for your friend as well."

Those words struck Cloud instantly with guilt. She was right. He had made those choices.

"You could have saved him," Jenova went on.

"He wouldn't have wanted me to," Cloud retorted fast. "He wouldn't want that for what you're asking of me," he added.

"And what have I asked for? I offered you and your friend a chance at freedom and all I ask is that you honor me with devotion—"

"But that's just it!" Cloud interrupted her. "You offered a _chance _for freedom. Nothing else. How am I supposed to accept that?"

"Trust me, Cloud," she answered with a soft and inviting smile. "I only have your best interests at heart. Your life is as important to me as it is to you. Probably more. Without me, you'd be dead. And I've done you a favor by removing you from your physical anguish for the time being."

Cloud narrowed his eyes as he stared at her hard. "What did you do?" he asked firmly. She moved closer to him, the yellow fabric of her dress lapping around her legs lightly.

"Think of it as a separation. From the body that is causing you so much pain," she explained after a moment.

He didn't know what she meant at first. Even when he thought he understood he wasn't positive. Could she really do that? Control him that way?

"No. Fix it," he demanded. She chuckled at him.

"You need to learn to be reasonable, Cloud. You and I will be spending some quality time here. So get used to it."

000

_In every man there lies a warrior. It is in the face of death that the warrior truly thrives…_Zack contemplated one of the widespread teachings in the SOLDIER Academy. He considered its significance as he sat huddled against the side of his cylinder, the right side of his body pressing against the glass while liquid mako was raining down on him from above. It was a new procedure Hojo had decided to try out. Zack had to admit it wasn't terrible. But it was in all likelihood not very effective either. The worst part about it was that it stung and blurred his eyes. But other than that, it made him feel numb more than anything.

As time pressed on, Zack could tell Hojo had been struggling to come up with a solution to bring Cloud from his coma. The stress of not being able to think of anything was written all over him. It would have been somewhat satisfying to observe had Zack not wanted so desperately for him to be able to bring Cloud back. With his friend 'out of service' so to speak, attention had been turned toward him.

Hojo seemed to realize for the first time in many weeks that the inactivity awarded to Zack when he was kept constantly contained in the testing cylinder had been having an effect on him. Not so much physically as mentally. With no one to talk to and nothing to do to exercise his mind, he'd become quiet and, for lack of a better word, pathetic. He didn't even bother to respond to the professor's taunts or mockery. Hojo interpreted it as a sign he was broken, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He could rebuild a broken thing in his own way.

Zack wasn't broken. He knew that himself. He knew that he'd changed not having proper stimulus to keep his brain operating at its normal efficiency, but he wasn't mindless. Not yet anyway. He chose to ignore the professor and his staff and keep to himself, as lonely as it was. He'd tried to keep his brain from turning to mush by forcing himself to remember tedious things like the hundreds of protocols and procedures he was expected to know as a SOLDIER. Or song lyrics. Sometimes he resorted to counting stones in the floor and then seeing how many times he could divide the number by a certain interval. It was far from ideal, but he needed those things to keep him from turning into a passive piece of nothing.

Other means were to be forced upon him soon enough however, as Hojo decided to implement the use of simulations in order to keep Zack's mind in shape. Zack wasn't particularly excited about his decision but it was at least something to break up the monotony that had been threatening his sanity.

While he was losing himself in those alternate worlds he was thrust into, he was also losing track of time. He didn't know how much time was passing, only that it was slipping away subtly. In the back of his mind, he felt it must have been several weeks, months even. Cloud's condition, as far as he could tell hadn't changed. That's when the professor had an idea.

Zack knew immediately what his plan was when he watched one of the lab assistants placing a transmitter helmet on Cloud's head while another assistant was heading toward Zack with a second helmet. Shared simulation. Hojo meant to use him to bring Cloud back. He may have been angry had he not wanted to speak with his friend so badly. He eagerly let the program take hold of him and carry him away into his mind.

He was placed in a plain room, empty and grey and somewhat similar to the simulation training rooms at the Academy. Cloud was situated on the other side of the room, turned away from him and kneeling down.

Cloud looked around slowly in confusion. A moment earlier, he'd been somewhere else. The ocean. He'd never really seen it before then. Hurried footsteps approached him but the person was in front of him before he could look back. Strong hands clutched him and though he didn't get a chance to see his face before he was pulled into a tight embrace he knew it was Zack.

"Zack," he breathed his name into his friend's shoulder. "She brought you here too?" he questioned after a moment. Zack pulled back then to face him.

"Who?" he asked.

"Jenova," Cloud replied as he looked around the room. "She was just here…"

"No, Spike. Hojo did. We're in a simulation," Zack explained. He eyed Cloud curiously. "You think Jenova brought you here?" he inquired.

Cloud nodded. "She freed me from the lab—" he began to claim.

"Spike, you're still in the lab," Zack interrupted. "We both are. You've been comatose."

Cloud stared back at him as if he didn't understand. He averted his eyes downward as he thought hard about Zack's words. Zack held onto Cloud's upper arms a little tighter.

"Cloud," he spoke his friend's name softly and tried to get him to meet his eyes again.

"Right," Cloud said lowly a last, looking back up at Zack as he nodded slowly. "Yeah," he agreed. Zack could feel him trembling slightly.

"Spike?" he said hesitantly, concern creeping into his voice. A half-smile appeared on Cloud's face briefly.

"Yeah, I just…forgot," he said quietly. He remembered suddenly that Jenova had merely separated him from his body and that she had been holding him against his will. But it seemed so long since that had happened. Somehow, along the way she had him believing she'd freed him and that he'd chosen to accompany her to the far-off places she'd been taking him. He was frightened immediately at knowing she'd been able to do that to him.

"You gotta come back with me, buddy," Zack said then. "You need to wake up."

"She won't let me," Cloud responded dejectedly. Zack felt his frustration growing.

"It's not up to her!" he said loudly, hoping that wherever Jenova was she could hear it. "You can fight against her. It's your life, your mind! You can't let her control you like that. She only wants to use you, Cloud." Cloud nodded once again in understanding. "Besides," Zack continued after a few seconds of silence. "I need you, buddy. You can't leave me alone out there. I'm gonna go crazy." He said it jokingly though he knew he really meant it.

There was no way to know when the simulation was about to end. When it did, Zack waited in painful anticipation to find out if the professor's plan had worked. If Cloud was now awake once again. The assistants were crowding around Cloud's cylinder, blocking him from Zack's view, so ultimately it was the monitors displaying his friend's vital signs that told him the outcome. Heart rate and blood pressure were elevated for the first time in months. He wasn't necessarily awake, but he was out of his coma. Zack was only able to get a brief look at his friend when he was being removed from the testing cylinder and placed on a gurney. Hojo had ordered that he be sent to the med sector for some tests before being brought back to the lab for the continuation of experimental procedures. Zack felt relieved as he watched two of the assistants wheeling Cloud away. Yet, in the pit of his stomach, he knew there was nothing to be remotely happy about.

For Cloud, all the suffering, all the agony, began again the moment he came out of the simulation. He tried to tell himself that being in a coma-state plagued by Jenova was worse, but it was hard to justify when he was in so much pain. It was stifling. His condition was critical. Hojo and his staff were very aware that his symptoms indicated mako poisoning and that continuing to administer what was killing him was like playing with fire. Hojo, being the apparent gambler he was, decided to compromise by having rounds of antibiotics administered and flushing serums injected into his organs. His reasoning was that if he kept those vital parts from failing then Cloud's body would endure.

Zack cursed himself for his hand in bringing Cloud back to the waking world. He'd been selfish in wanting him back so he wouldn't feel so alone and because he'd learned to value the sounds of grief so much more than silence. But he regretted it now. He could never blame Cloud for the choice he was forced to make…

Jenova had been ever-present during Cloud's ordeal after coming out of his coma. She hadn't spoken, but Cloud has always sensed her there. He knew if she offered, he wouldn't be able to say no. He prayed to God she wouldn't offer it to him, but when that offer came, he was so unhinged with misery he barely comprehended what he was saying yes too. She offered him relief. And he accepted it. He accepted it for the chance to sleep again. For the chance to breathe one breath of air without hurting. For the chance to hear his own voice in his head at a level below screaming. In his mind, he felt her arms wrap around him tightly and draw into herself everything he was feeling, leaving him with peace. She pulled him into a place that was warm and comfortable. He didn't care what she took from him in return. Not at first.

Zack watched as his friend grew quiet, his body unmoving save for the slight tremors running through him due to his illness. His eyes were half-lidded and seemed unfocused. He seemed almost euphoric. Zack knew in his heart it was Jenova's hand at work. He was angry at first. Cloud had given in. But given all he'd been through, there's no way he could pass judgment. Especially when he could see himself doing the same were he in Cloud's position.

The euphoria didn't last, however. As Cloud regained his senses and realized what had been done, he pushed Jenova away and fell back into his physical torment. Again and again, Jenova would wait until he was on the brink of madness with pain before offering him aid. He tried so hard to deny her, even Zack could see that, but the end result was always the same. Cloud would give in until he was ready to fight again.

He knew he was losing pieces of himself in the process. Not only was he losing precious memories, but also his beliefs. His values. His dreams. The things that had made him who he was. He was slowly becoming a blank slate. Something he knew Jenova needed to exert her full influence on him. Each time he gave into her, he told himself he still knew who he was and could remember enough to be able to piece together the most important parts of his life. But as is normally the case, one doesn't know what they have is important until it is gone. And once Cloud had lost it, he didn't know he ever had it to begin with.

It wasn't a quick process by any means. It was slow. Dragging out over months of time. Eventually, there was no more resistance from Cloud. He spent 24 hours a day under Jenova's relief. He grew unresponsive and unmoving. His eyes were rarely open. He may as well have been comatose again. And even though it had been in Cloud's control to begin with, Zack suspected that somehow he'd forgotten again his want to resist. He watched the friend he knew slipping away from him day by day. And while he tried everything he could to stop it from happening, it was simply not enough.

He came close once again to abandoning all hope, seeing that there was going to be no alternate ending for himself other than that which would see him turned into a mindless creature, mako-infused to the point of deformity. A monstrosity in so many ways. He would be used to kill indiscriminately. Men, women, and children alike. He couldn't let that happen.

That night in his dreams he asked for the opportunity to end his life, not as an act of surrender or giving up. But as an act of sacrifice. If he died, he would be saving those he would one day kill. Angeal came to him in his dream then, his back adorned with a radiant white wing. Zack begged for his help in ending his life, one day when he was sure his and Cloud's fates were sealed. Angeal denied him, disappearing from his sight. He woke abruptly and looked upward to where the mako showering upon him originated. He cursed aloud as it entered his eyes, rubbing at them furiously as he pulled himself closer to the glass in front of him, as if it would save him from the showering.

He pried his eyes open quickly as he thought he saw a flash of light from behind his lids. As he stared out blearily into the lab, he could make out a figure. He squinted hard and his heart skipped a beat as he thought he recognized the person. He stared in awe and confusion, debating with himself on whether he was still dreaming or not. Mere feet away from him stood Angeal, seemingly in the flesh.

"How can you even call yourself a SOLDIER?" his mentor questioned, his voice stern and disappointed. "I don't need such a pathetic SOLDIER," he added.

Zack wasn't sure he was serious. It was so harsh, it didn't seem like something Angeal would say to him. Not now, not after everything. The man turned away from him.

"Angeal!" he cried, pounding on the glass in front of him. "Wait! Please!"

He was forced to turn away suddenly as a bright white light flooded the room. The sound of shattering glass filled his ears. The front panel of the cylinder broke away and without its support his upper body fell from the tube, landing on the stone floor. The shower was still running, hitting the backs of his legs where they were still lying in the line of fire. He forced himself to raise his head and meet the man he'd spent years believing was dead. But as he squinted through the blur in his eyes, craning his neck upward to the point at which it hurt, there was no Angeal. There was no one. He was alone, shivering and barely conscious in the lab. Too weak to even pull himself the rest of the way out of the busted cylinder, he lay his head down against the floor. As much as he wanted to fight his way out of the haze in his mind to understand what was happening, the darkness was too overwhelming. The urge to sleep too crushing. Too paralyzing. He was out before he was able to stop himself.


	51. Chapter 48

_Hi again guys! I couldn't wait to submit this so if you haven't read Chapter 47 yet, do go back and read it before this one. Also, this is **not** the final chapter. Just thought I'd clear that up in case there's any confusion at the end. There will likely be two more chapters depending on how closely I stick to the original storyline. Hope ya'll like this chapter because I very much enjoyed writing it ^^_

_Take care! _

_Disclaimer: No own FFVII_

Chapter XLVIII

From somewhere in the shadows, a voice beckoned to Zack. It gripped him tightly and pulled him from inside himself. There was a familiarity about it. It was a woman's voice. He forced his eyes open, stared through those half-lidded orbs and up into the bleary features of the face from which the voice had come.

"Zack. Can you hear me? _Zack_." Her voice was soft. Concerned. It was soaked in sympathy. Zack's mind pulled a name to the surface from the deep vault of memories buried inside his head. _Marsh_.

"Doc?" he croaked, his voice cracking with strain.

"You need to get it together, Zack, if I'm gonna get you out of here," she spoke close to him. She was cradling his head, pushing the matted hair from his face.

For a brief second he thought he was going to fall back into unconsciousness. His eyes rolled back and closed. He felt himself sinking. Marsh brought him back. She shook him promptly.

"Zack! Zack, wake up!" she urged frantically. He came back slowly, with so much effort it felt like he was climbing out of a twenty-foot pit.

"Sorry, Doc," Zack mumbled, opening his eyes a little. "Forgot how cute you were. 'Sa little overwhelming," he added with a half-hearted smirk.

She laughed then. Her voice seemed to waver with held-back tears as she said "Only you'd say that at a time like this."

"What time would that be?" he inquired groggily.

"Time to go," she replied firmly, taking his shoulders and pushing him up, forcing him to sit. He groaned, partially in protest.

"What are you talkin' 'bout, Doc?" he asked.

"You're going to have your freedom again, Zack. And you're going to get it today. Even if it kills me."

Zack grew more alert at her statement. He was skeptical that she had just said what he thought she had. "Could you say that again, Doc?" he questioned hesitantly.

"There's no time. Get yourself together, Zack. I'm gonna need your help with this," she urged, struggling to keep him sitting straight without slumping back into her lap.

"I'm not leaving Cl-Cloud," he stuttered as he shivered harshly.

"I'm not leaving him either," Marsh replied quickly. "Try and gather some strength while I get him out of the other tank." She left him to himself as she moved to the control panel between the two cylinders. She was praying the codes hadn't changed since she'd worked for Hojo. Thankfully they hadn't been. She punched in the code to drain the tank, following it up with the one to release the air mask. Cloud was held suspended by the tubes connected to his arms and back but he hung limply, his head down, his knees nearly touching the platform below him. Marsh put in the entry code to open the front panel of the tube before stepping inside. She inspected the tubes, pulling on them gently. "What are these?" she questioned aloud, seeing that they were not easily removed.

"They unscrew," Zack spoke up from where he was pulling himself to his feet uneasily. She took one of ones attached to Cloud's left wrist in her hand. Turning it where it met the metal disk in his flesh, it began to come out, just as Zack had said it would. As the tube came away from his wrist, a stream of liquid poured out and onto the platform, splashing over Marsh's shoes. She stepped back fast, nearly falling back out of the cylinder. "Wha—it's…mako?" she stammered, her eyes fixed on the steady stream emptying from the tube."

"Among other shit," Zack responded shakily. He was leaning over the exam table trying to get back his stability. It seemed like forever since he'd been on his feet.

"My God…" she breathed as she counted just how many tubes there were. Eight. No wonder Cloud was showing signs of radical mako poisoning. She began unscrewing the long conduits. One after another, as quickly as she could. The bottom of the cylinder was covered in mako-tainted liquid that ran out and onto the floor of the lab. When the last tube was disconnected, Cloud's body fell forward into Marsh. She struggled to keep him from sinking to the floor. It was a nearly lost battle. Until two hands reached past her, clutching onto him. She looked up into Zack's face, a hard look of determination in his expression.

"I got 'im," he said firmly. She didn't question it, just stepped back and allowed him to take over. He gripped Cloud tightly under his arms, turning him around and dragging him out of the cylinder backwards. "Hey Doc, how'd you manage to break through that other cylinder?" he questioned out of curiosity.

"I didn't," she answered him and he looked back at her in slight shock. "When I got here you were already on the floor." Zack stared at her in confusion, trying to come up with an explanation but he was interrupted.

"Who are you?" a voice spoke from across the room, drawing the attention of both Zack and Marsh. Just inside the lab door stood Germaine, Hojo's newest assistant, though he'd been working for the professor for months now. Zack felt his knees get weak as he was crushed by the realization they'd been caught. He lowered Cloud to the floor as he went into survival mode, about to attempt to reason. To bargain. Anything. But Marsh acted before he could stutter one word. She reached behind her, into the waistband of her pants, retrieving a handgun that she aimed at the assistant promptly.

"Away from the door!" she demanded. Germaine raised his hands slightly but hesitated on moving. "Do it now!" she commanded more forcefully. It surprised Zack somewhat. She'd never been that vehement when she had been working for Hojo. Germaine complied at last, moving away from the door slowly.

"You can't take him like that," he spoke uneasily.

"Shut up!" Marsh demanded.

"Like what?" Zack questioned nearly at the same time.

"He won't survive longer than twenty-four hours," Germaine explained. "Not without mako."

"The mako's killing him," Marsh fire back at him, still pointing her firearm in his direction.

"Perhaps, but cut off from it abruptly he'll experience massive withdrawal effects. He'll die of shock or heart failure."

Marsh looked back at Zack. He turned his eyes from her toward Cloud. Small amounts of mako were seeping from the ports in his arms.

"He's right," Marsh spoke at last. There was a heavy silence as she appeared to be struggling with a solution.

"You'll need to take some mako with you. You can inject it into him. As well as yourself. There's a chance you could go into shock as well," the assistant went on. He started heading toward the one supply cabinet across the room.

"Stop!" Marsh demanded.

"I can help you," Germaine claimed, merely pausing before continuing in his actions. He began retrieving supplies hurriedly as he continued to speak. Marsh lowered her weapon and replaced it behind her reluctantly. "You're both going to go through withdrawal from the drug therapy you've been treated with. The effects could be severe so you're going to have to administer small doses of the drugs to yourself and cee—" he stopped himself before he said it. "Your friend. Every eight hours at least." He turned briefly to look at Zack before looking for something to place the supplies in.

Zack saw the spark of familiarity in his eyes as Germaine had looked at him. He decided to question it. "You know who I am, don't you?" he asked. Germaine said nothing. "You have for awhile."

"Yes," he agreed finally without looking at Zack. "Four months ago. I figured out how I knew you." There was a brief pause before he went on. "MSL," he said as he turned to face Zack again.

"Midgar Soccer League," Zack said with a small smile.

"You played center forward for the Anvils."

"My first year at the Academy," Zack said as he nodded, remembering back on that year. "You played?"

"Yeah, I was goalie for the Sabers," Germaine affirmed. Zack tried to think back on the games his team had played against the Sabers. His memories were vague but there. He remembered hazily seeing Germaine though he seemed so much older now. He had to remind himself that it had been years since he played in the League. Even before being imprisoned in the mansion.

"We have to hurry," Marsh interrupted, moving toward the supply area where she helped pack up the supplies in a small black bag. "What's this?" she questioned as he motioned toward a grey plastic case. Germaine clipped it open to reveal ten small syringes already pre-prepped with mako.

"We always have some ready," Germaine explained.

"I know," Marsh replied fast and sharp. "I used to work here." Germaine nodded in understanding.

"If you do experience more extreme withdrawal effects," he spoke to Zack again "abdominal pains, vomiting, severe dizziness, try not to let yourself sleep. You go into massive shock in your sleep and you may not wake up."

"You're going to be in a world of hurt when Hojo finds out you helped us," Zack replied.

"Yeah…I was hoping you could help me with that," he responded as he turned to Marsh, holding out a bottle of sedative and an empty syringe.

"Of course," Marsh agreed, taking the items from him.

"I'm sorry I didn't do something sooner. I was in denial. It's no excuse, but I—"

"It's alright," Zack cut him off softly.

"Do you want to lie down first?" Marsh asked as she prepped the syringe in her hand.

"No," Germaine replied. "It should look as real as possible." Marsh stepped up behind him, ready to give him the injection. "Good luck, Zack," he said with a firm nod. Marsh injected him quickly then at the back of his neck. He fell limply to the floor nearly immediately and she checked his pulse before leaving him to the fetch the bag of supplies he'd left on the counter near the cabinet.

"Let's go, Zack," she said urgently, snapping him out of his semi-trance. His eyes had been focused on the unconscious Germaine. He took hold of Cloud then, lifting his upper body from the floor.

"We needed a cover. This was all I could think of," Marsh spoke up. He looked her way. His eyes were still a little bleary but he could make out something next to her.

"A cart?" he observed skeptically.

"It'll work. Just hurry up and get on it," she ordered. Zack did as he was told, pulling Cloud across the room before sitting himself on the bottom shelf. He pulled Cloud up onto it as well with the help of Marsh. He held him close, pulling his pale arms in and pinning them to his chest so they wouldn't fall over the edges of the cart. Marsh was busy unfolding a thick sheet she'd brought in with the cart. She draped it over the top shelf, leaving the one side open a moment while she put on a lab coat and a surgical mask. "You ready for this," she asked, her voice muffled a little.

Zack gave a firm nod and gripped his unconscious friend a little tighter. "I've been ready since the goddamn day I woke up here," he confirmed.

"Stay quiet," Marsh said before pulling the sheet over the side of the cart, concealing the two young men inside.

It was the longest, most incredibly tense ten minutes of Zack's life. As he sat on the cold steel of the cart, holding his best friend close to himself, feeling vibrations under him as the wheels under the shelf rolled over hard tile, he could feel each heart beat as though it were going to explode through his chest. It was surreal. He heard the sounds of passing footsteps. Words spoken from one Shinra employee to another. Not one of them knew. One of the mansion's grisly secrets was hidden away under a simple sheet of fabric.

Then it got quiet. He knew then they must be getting close to an exit. He began to sweat. Each second was agonizing. His muscles were twitching as he expected the worst. He kept waiting for something to happen. Some obstacle. Something to reach out and seize away his hope once again. One would think after years of being let down, he'd have lost the ability to hope. And yet, there he was, his faith and belief that freedom just may be within his reach _this _time was sparked up and raging.

The cart was brought to a halt. A moment later, a rush of warm wind ran up under the sheet and swept over Zack's bare flesh. The hair on his arms rose up against the sensation. They were outside. Memories of the last time they were this close to freedom came rushing back to him. A car crash, the death of Syrus, the near death of Cloud and himself. Their glimpse at freedom then had been so brief. How long a look would they have this time?

He expected them to be caught. Expected to hear the sound of sirens fill the area, for the guards to come rushing out, weapons raised, ready to beat them into the ground with batons. They'd be dragged back to that cold, stale basement, kicking and screaming. Well. He'd be kicking, not so much Cloud. Cloud probably wouldn't know any better. Wouldn't know how they'd just had freedom in front of them and lost it again. He wouldn't tell him about that. Wouldn't tell him what they'd lost again. He scolded himself mentally then. They hadn't even been caught and he already had them back in their captivity. Still…he couldn't let himself get too hopeful. He didn't know if he could survive the let down.

The cart stopped once again. He heard the sound of a car door opening. The sheet was lifted on the one side. Marsh appeared. "Get into the car and stay on the floor," she spoke in a low tone. It was a struggle for him to get himself into the back seat along with Cloud. He lay on the floor, Cloud was on top of him, in a position that looked anything but comfortable. But there wasn't much time for comfort. Marsh appeared again. She had a blanket in her hands. "You need to be covered," she explained. "There are guards at the main gate to the grounds." Perhaps something in his face gave away the fear Zack felt because she took the time to reassure him. "They're not going to see you," she said firmly before draping part of the blanket over him and Cloud. She stepped back then, shutting the back door. Zack pulled the blanket over himself and his friend, making sure every part of them was covered. He waited and listened to the sound of Marsh getting into the driver's seat. She started the car and pulled out of the parking space, headed for the long driveway to the main gate.

His heart was pounding harder with each passing moment. As they drew closer and closer to freedom. Then, his inner suspicions that the attempt would fail seemed to be confirmed. He felt the vehicle begin to slow. "The guards are stopping me," Marsh spoke quietly from the front of the car. "Just be cool."

_Be cool! _Zack thought. He was freaking out inside. Someone must have entered the lab and found them gone. Alerted security. They were going back. Marsh was speaking with one of the guards. He couldn't make out what they were saying because the blood was pounding too hard within his ears. Concealed beneath the heavy blanket with Cloud lying on top of him, he felt hot suddenly. It was stifling and becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. His sweat glands were in full operation, striking him all over his body. It made his body and Cloud's slick as their bare skin was pressing against each other.

He had been sure they were caught. That they'd be facing Hojo's wrath in a matter of hours. But then, the car was moving again. It increased in speed. He could hear the faint whistling of air coming through a window but he was too afraid to speak, to question Marsh about where they were or if they were safe yet. He lay as still as possible, breathing slow and staring through the darkness at the top of Cloud's head, resting on his chest.

"You can uncover yourself if you want," Marsh said after another ten minutes. "But stay on the floor, just for now," she added promptly.

Zack pulled the blanket down, uncovering his and Cloud's upper bodies. He drew in a deep breath of cool air. "Where are we?" he asked then, desperately wanting to look out the windows and take in what he'd been starved of for so long.

"Headed toward Nibelheim" she replied. "It'll be another twenty minutes before we pass through there." There was a brief silence before she spoke again. "I, um, can't take you further than Dolland. It's not going to take them very long to figure out I was involved in getting you out. You won't be safe with me."

"I understand," Zack said softly. Another brief silence. "Hey, Doc," he spoke up again. "How come you're helping us now?"

She took a moment to answer. Zack sensed the reason before she could give it.

"Because I have nothing left to lose anymore."

He knew exactly what that meant. She had had a daughter. But not anymore.

"I'm sorry," he barely whispered, feeling genuinely sympathetic towards her. It was a surprise to him. He didn't think he had any sympathy left for anyone outside of himself and Cloud.

"Hojo pulled out his financial interests in her when he fired me. The hospital wouldn't keep her. She died because of that."

He didn't know what to say to that. It didn't shock him. Hojo was evil. Selfish and demented. There was no way to know just how horrible he could be. He always seemed to find a new low.

"I don't want you to think I'm doing this for revenge," Marsh said then, drawing him out of his thoughts. "Not a day went by that I didn't think of both of you. Of the terrible things being done to you. But my daughter needed me. I haven't slept one single night peacefully for all the horrible things I participated in. Much of your suffering is on my head. I know that."

"We don't blame you, Doc," Zack spoke reassuringly. "You were one of the only people in there who treated us like something other than just specimens. That's all that matters."

Marsh didn't respond. After a few seconds it was clear she was holding back from crying. Neither of them said anything for the rest of the drive. Zack was struggling with himself mentally to accept that they were really free. It had seemed too easy. He was still waiting for the moment the floor would come crashing out beneath him and send him back to the torture awaiting.

By the time Marsh brought the vehicle to a stop, much of Zack's body had gone to sleep on him. His mind had never been more alert however. Cloud had twitched a few times during the ride. Each time, it sent spears of despair through Zack's heart. He wanted so badly to look into his friend's eyes and see him stare back at him and know who he was. To have some form of reaction. But for weeks now he'd been completely unconscious. Lost within himself so deeply he couldn't find his way out.

The back door was opened and Marsh stood like a shadow in front of him, her features were blotted out by the darkness of night, the only source of light, the moon, at her back.

"We're here," she spoke. "I found your things in storage. They're in the trunk."

She helped move Cloud up onto the padded backseat before Zack pulled his own stiff body out of the vehicle. He set his bare feet on the cool pavement and stood up slowly, his eyes taking in the surroundings. They were parked off the road at a stop that was partially covered by trees. The sounds of a thousand night creatures could be heard. The sounds of the crickets stood out above all. He couldn't believe it, but he'd forgotten just what they sounded like.

"What day is it?" he asked Marsh then.

"June first," she replied.

_Just over four years since it all began. _He felt weak again suddenly.

"There isn't much time," Marsh reminded him. He gathered back his strength, looking at her and nodding before moving his way to the trunk. His eyes fell upon his old uniform. His buster sword was lying underneath the heap of clothing. He'd thought for sure that it would have been lost. Sold. Something.

"I couldn't find Cloud's belongings," Marsh explained from nearby as she faced away from him to give him privacy to dress. "I just took one of the other first class uniforms that were packed up in the room. The SOLDIER who owned them won't be coming back for them."

Zack looked over his shoulder at her. Yes, he hated Shinra now. Hated almost everything about it. But he couldn't hate its SOLDIERs. Most were innocent and unknowing of the atrocities committed by the company. And it had become evident over the years that many of them had become victims in the brutal experimentations of several madmen. How many had died? He suspected he'd never know.

"You're so much quieter than I remember," Marsh broke the silence once again. Zack scoffed lightly.

"I'd imagine most would say it's a good thing," he responded lowly as he was doing up his belt. He'd gained weight since the last time he had it on, though it was undoubtedly in muscle.

"I never minded how much you talked," the doctor said as she came toward him and leaned back against the vehicle. He realized right then how different she looked. Her hair was down, unlike it had been when she was working for Hojo. It framed her face in soft layers and caught the moonlight in its shine. It gave her a softer, more attractive look. She was actually beautiful when not hidden beneath the mask of her profession. But she was sad. It was written all over her. Sadness and hurt.

"Yeah well…" he spoke up in response to her statement, "I'm sure my loud mouth will find its way out again eventually." She looked at him and he gave her a small smile. She returned it after a few seconds before looking away. He took hold of his old sword then. He looked on its blade a moment, seeing his face reflected back at him. It needed to be cleaned. And sharpened. It hadn't been touched since the fight with Sephiroth in the Nibelheim reactor. Remnants of the silver-haired man's blood were still present. Before he had a chance to get too caught up in past events, he slid it into its scabbard on his back and grabbed the other set of clothes in the trunk to bring around to Cloud.

It was an awkward fight with the clothing and Cloud's dead-weight body to get him clothed within the backseat of the car. "You woulda made a fine-looking first class there, Spikey," he said as he was tying the laces on one of the boots he'd put on his friend's foot. "I know you won't be walking much right now but the footwear kinda completes the ensemble, if you know what I mean."

"Take that bag with you too," Marsh said then. Zack stood straight and looked down into the trunk at a small duffle bag. "It's got some supplies in it…food and water, as well as the bag of supplies that lab assistant packed for you." He threw a nod her way before turning back to his friend.

When Cloud was fully dressed, Zack pulled the bag Marsh had prepared over his head and positioned it over his one shoulder. He reached down then and took hold of Cloud, hoisting him up over his other shoulder, struggling a moment to lift him. It wasn't that Cloud was particularly heavy. Far from it. But Zack had weakened over the past months. He wasn't worried. He'd been pumped with enough drugs over that time to ensure that once his body assimilated the recent mako he'd been doused with into his system, he was going to feel much stronger. He stood in front of Marsh and they shared a quiet moment before he spoke.

"Thanks, Doc," he said lightly. She nodded at him before reaching for something else in the trunk of the car. She pulled out a small rectangular case.

"There's three shots of epinephrine in here. Take it with you in case…" she glanced at Cloud. "In case you need it. You know when to use it if you have to?"

"Yeah. Think so," Zack affirmed. He took the case from her and slipped it into one of his pockets. They exchanged a tight smile each before Zack moved to head into the cover of the trees. He turned back after he was a few metres away, watching Marsh as she opened the door to the driver's side of the car. "Hey," he called out to her. "What's your first name, Doc?"

She stared back at him strangely, her head tilted a little. She looked as if it was the most surprising thing she'd ever been asked. "It's…Anna," she replied at last.

"Maybe we'll see you again someday," Zack said brightly. He didn't give her a chance to stumble with an answer. He turned and moved into the shadows cast by the trees, leaving her where she stood. He didn't hear her near whispered reply.

"No…you won't."

000

The first few hours of walking had been torturous for Zack. But he was more determined than he'd ever been in his life to do something. At that moment the only thing he cared about was getting as far away from the Shinra Mansion as he possibly could. He was thankful that Marsh had put a compass in the bag of supplies she'd given him. As directionally-able as he considered himself to be, navigating a large area of land covered in trees in the middle of the night wasn't an easy task, even for him.

At dawn, he was just coming to a clearing. He stopped abruptly, his eyes taking in the sight before him. Rolling hills stretched out into the distance, filled with dew-covered grass and wild flowers. On the horizon, the sun was peeking up slowly over one of the hills and casting a display of color upon the clear sky overhead.

He lowered Cloud to the ground softly, turning him so he was facing the rising sun. He sat down next to him taking in some deep breaths.

"I wish you could see this, buddy," he spoke to his friend who was slumped into his one shoulder and chest. "It's…incredible," he whispered. Tears struck his eyes suddenly. He had a hard time holding himself back from sobbing. He never thought he'd feel so utterly overwhelmed on the day he was finally free of Hojo's clutches. He'd never been more relieved or more terrified in his life. Relieved for the obvious reasons, terrified because he wasn't sure what to do with himself or Cloud, and most of all, he had something to lose again, his freedom.

He pushed his worries down. At least for awhile. At that moment all he wanted was to take in the sunrise and describe every immensely beautiful detail to his best friend.

In the cemetery just outside Dollard, Marsh was kneeling in front of one of the newer headstones. She had already shed her silent tears when she'd first arrived hours earlier, still in the darkness of the last bit of night. Now she was spent of tears. Instead, she read over the inscription on the stone over and over. _Isabella Marsh. An angel not meant for this world._

She'd been waiting for the inevitable. Praying for it, for there was nothing left in her life worth living for. Still, she was unaware of it until it was right behind her. It wasn't until she heard the cocking of a gun that she knew the time had come. Never tearing her eyes off the headstone in front of her, she spoke tonelessly, devoid of feeling.

"Took you long enough."

The gunshot echoed through the cemetery eerily, frightening a flock of birds from their perches in a nearby tree. They fled the scene swiftly, flying off into the morning, not interested in staying to witness the man in the dark suit hosing down a headstone speckled crimson.


	52. Chapter 49

_Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. Hopefully the added length of the chapter makes up for it. It's the second last chapter and I just wanted to let you guys know that I sort of go in a different direction than the original plot. Time frames are different as well as events and dialogue. So I'm sorry if you're disappointed at all. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII._

Chapter XLIX

"This is bad," Zack whispered to himself as he peered through some branches thick with foliage, concealing him from view. Just over a day and a half into his and Cloud's escape and he found himself gazing out from the shelter of the forest's edge into an open area filled with Shinra military soldiers. He had reached a town, he knew that much. Which town, he wasn't sure. It wasn't a well-established town, that was for sure, so there was no reason there should be so many soldiers there. He knew in all likelihood the soldiers were looking for him and Cloud. But there were a hundred different paths they could have taken away from Nibelheim, how would the military know to look there? _Someone could be tracking us_, he told himself then. Shinra had many expert trackers working for the company. "Great," he muttered, glancing back at Cloud lying on the ground a few paces back where he'd set him down.

Cloud was in bad shape. Worse than when they'd left the mansion. Just as Germaine had warned, he'd started to go into shock about fifteen hours after they'd made their escape, despite the fact he'd already been given several shots of the other substances. He needed mako and Zack had been forced to give him the first injection. He'd administered a second another twelve hours later. He felt tremendously guilty about it and yet he knew it was something he needed to do to keep his friend alive. However, the small amount of mako did only just that. Kept him alive. After the massive amounts he'd been given in the months prior on a daily basis, his body was still in yearning. Cloud had been shaking continuously, his breathing had become shallow and laboured, and he had been running a high temperature.

Zack himself didn't feel the greatest. He experienced the same effects as Cloud but at a less intense degree. He trembled, endured his own elevated temperature, and fought with himself to maintain a steady rhythm of breathing while ignoring the pain that coursed through him. But he'd denied himself any amount of mako. He would refuse it as long as possible and hopefully his body would become used to not having it once again. He couldn't, however, deny himself the other drugs Germaine had provided him with. He discovered early on in the escape that he was incapable of functioning without them for period's longer than six or seven hours. The withdrawal effects were debilitating. And though they were similar to the effects experienced through the mako withdrawal, there was one thing notably different. He didn't crave the mako. Didn't _need _it in the same capacity. He was addicted to Hojo's mystery drugs, and it scared him. But he had little choice about whether he should continue to use them. He needed to get himself and Cloud to safety, then he'd worry about his problem.

As he watched and listened to the soldiers making their plans about which areas they were going to monitor in the town, he formulated his own plan. He would try to circle around the town, hopefully being able to stay relatively unseen.

His plan seemed to be working as he pushed his way through the thick brush around him, trying the best he could to keep himself and Cloud from being snagged or scratched by the multitude of branches reaching out to them. His ears picked up the sound of running water as he was nearing the edge of the forest once again. Checking to make sure there were no soldiers in view, he pushed his way into a clearing where he found himself standing on the bank next to a narrow river. Checking the compass in his pocket, he determined that even if getting across the river wasn't necessary to keep himself and Cloud on course it would certainly help to put further distance and obstacle between them and the soldiers.

Still, it was difficult to estimate the depth of the water. He was unsure of what would happen if the supplies got wet and he certainly wanted to be prepared to swim with Cloud in tow if he had to. He made the difficult decision to leave Cloud on the bank while he crossed the river first with the supplies.

The water was cold, a shock to his over-heated body. Immediately, he wanted to retreat to the bank but he forced himself on, moving slowly, holding the supply bag over his head and making each step tentatively, hoping he wouldn't suddenly find himself stepping into a hole that would have him in the water over his head. Nearly half-way in and the deepest it had gotten was about five feet. That changed as he reached the center. He was still able to keep his head above water, but just barely. His arms were aching as he forced them to stay raised above him, holding the duffle bag. He suspected it would almost be easier to bring Cloud across. He wasn't worried about his friend getting wet, and all that mattered was keeping Cloud's head above the water and making sure he didn't sink.

When he reached the bank, he set the bag down before pausing a moment to catch his breath. "You can do this," he encouraged himself. "Just get Cloud and you can rest for awhile." He needed the rest. He was starving and his head was pounding, partly from dehydration.

He heard something then. Rustling, in the brush on the other side of the river. His heart stopped and his stomach plummeted as he turned his eyes in the direction he'd heard the sounds. It was like watching a scene from a movie unfold. The suspense of not knowing what was coming had him nervous and sweating. And at the same time, he knew what was about to happen. A small group of soldiers emerged onto the river bank from the forest. Zack locked eyes with them. He stood frozen in horror, knowing they now had Cloud within their reach.

"Stay where you are!" the leading soldier of the group shouted and raised his weapon to take aim. That was Zack's cue to leave. Grabbing the supply bag, he ran for cover, entering the wooded area once more and stopping only when he knew he was no longer visible. He stood behind the trunk of a large tree and waited for their aimless fire to cease. Setting the supplies down, he crouched and made his way back to where he could see more clearly what the soldiers were doing. They were standing around Cloud, one of them checking his pulse while another was speaking into his communicator. Zack couldn't make out what was said, though he knew without a doubt other soldiers were being alerted to his position. He had to move.

Two of the soldiers slung their rifles over their shoulders then and reached down to take hold of Cloud, lifting him by his arms and legs. They departed then, back the way they came, taking Cloud with them. Two stayed behind, guarding the bank. Zack knew they were there in case he decided to emerge and make his way back across the river. He wasn't that stupid. Pulling the strap of the duffle bag over his head and positioning it on his one shoulder he kept low as he made his way through the forest as quickly as he could, following the river. There had to be somewhere else he could cross back safely and get to where they were taking Cloud. He had to force himself not to think too deeply about the fact Cloud had just been re-captured. He knew if he didn't he'd find himself crumbling into a sobbing mess. He couldn't let them win.

Five minutes of fast paced jogging found Zack at a spot where the river had shrank down to a stream. It was easily crossed and he was back on the bank side he needed to be. He knew that they weren't going to be taking Cloud anywhere without a vehicle so he used that to guide him. He made his way toward the town once again, looking for where most of the army vehicles were parked. The place was crawling with military personnel. More than he'd seen before. He left the shelter of the forest to scout out the vehicles, weaving between them and stopping finally to catch his breath behind one of the parked Humvees.

He held his breath suddenly as he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching the vehicle. "The one target is secured?" a voice spoke.

"Yes, sir," another responded. "In a medical vehicle at the gate. It'll be ready to leave in ten minutes."

"And the other target?" the first questioned.

"Still not in custody, sir."

"Expand the search, report back in thirty minutes."

"Yes, sir."

Zack heard a door opening and the Humvee moved a little as someone sat down inside. He moved to the cover of another vehicle before he could be revealed. _The gate?_ Zack thought. He hadn't seen any gates but he suspected it was a reference to the main entrance of the town.

His suspicions were right. As he huddled next to the one wall of what he assumed was the town hall building, he gazed out across the square. Several hundred feet away was the medical vehicle he'd been looking for. Soldiers were guarding all four sides of it. Another thirty or so were patrolling the area and urging pedestrians to stay away.

All he could think about was Cloud and how he only had a few minutes to get to him before it would be too late. "Stay focused…" he told himself. Just then, something hit the front wall of the building, chipping off bits of brick that hit him in the side of his face and neck. "Shit!" he exclaimed as he pulled back a few feet and pushed himself closer to the side wall. _Sniper_, he realized. _Where the hell is he?_ There was no time to ponder it. The other soldiers had been alerted to his whereabouts. He didn't have any more time for stealth. He needed to stop the medical vehicle before it left. Leaving the supplies next to the building, he drew his sword from his back and emerged into the open area.

"Drop your weapon and surrender!" one of the higher ranking soldiers shouted.

"Yeah, that'll happen," Zack said with a scoff as he quickened his pace and went for the first round of adversaries. He dodged and blocked the bullets that were fired upon him, his weapon acting as a shield until he was close enough to take down some of his opposition. The first went down with a slash to his chest, another went down gripping his wounded arm, a third his thigh, blood pumping out fast from a severed artery.

He wasn't aiming to kill. But then, he wasn't aiming for much. Just enough to win the fight. His arms were aching within the first few minutes, just the simple act of operating his sword wearing on him quickly. He'd forgotten how heavy the weapon was. With the right bearer the blade was like no other, unmatchable, but in the hands of the unpracticed it was a burden. He was somewhat surprised he was able to overcome any of the soldiers without being shot first. A few bullets grazed by him, just close enough that he felt their heat as they brushed against his skin. Narrow misses. But the soldiers weren't aiming to kill him either. _Give it a few weeks_, he thought.

He had to admit though, given he hadn't had a real fight outside of the Mansion in years he wasn't doing too bad at all. Even though it was seemingly taking forever, one by one he was able to take down his opponents. It was by far the bloodiest fight he'd ever been in. He'd never faced that many opponents at one time. Each time his blade made contact with one of the soldiers' flesh it sent droplets of blood his way. He imagined the pain the weapon inflicted to be worse than it needed to be. The sword was dull, still in need of sharpening. It was true, he could have reduced to sharpening it with stones but he hadn't had much time.

As the number of standing soldiers shrank down to only a handful, the sniper that had been hiding in the bushes across the square gave up on trying to get a shot at him and emerged to attack him with the others. The last few were proving the hardest to finish off for Zack. Having run out of ammo, several of the soldiers drew their handguns. He sensed the final bullet fired even before it tore into his left bicep. Hot pain ran out like a web over his arm but he drove himself forward and resisted the urge to hesitate, knowing it would cost him.

He finished off what was in front of him but as he turned to check his back, he was struck mid-turn by the butt of a rifle. It made contact with the left side of his face, splitting open his lower lip at the side while inside his mouth his teeth had cut into the flesh of his cheek and he was met quickly with the taste of blood. He stumbled back and tried to regain his composure but was hit from behind in his lower back, throwing him forward. He dropped to one knee, thrusting his blade back at the same time, managing to strike whoever was behind him, though the sounds that came from his target suggested the wound hadn't been critical.

A booted foot came down on the blade, pinning it to the ground. Before he could attempt another move, an arm circled around his neck and yanked him onto his back. He lost the grip on the hilt of his sword and fell back onto the person holding him. A second arm circled around his upper arms. He squirmed frantically, gripping the arm around his neck and trying to loosen its hold on him as he tried to sit himself up and break away from the vice grip he found himself in. It was down to him against just two soldiers. But the one had him trapped while the other was preparing to try and cuff him. He kicked at him as he leaned down and tried to get a hold of his wrists. Despite his frantic movements, his one arm was snatched and one of the cuffs snapped around his wrist.

It would have been easy for him to give up at that point. He was exhausted, sweating and out of breath. His body was aching desperately for rest and relief of the strain of fighting. But he forced that option from his mind. As long as he still had the ability to move he would push himself to fight, despite the pain. There would be worse pain in surrendering.

As the soldier in front of him leaned down and closer to him, Zack delivered a left hook to his head, forcing him back. Zack's wrist was released from the man's grip but he was still held tightly by the other soldier. Taking the open cuff in his hand he pulled his lower arm upward and jammed the ratchet on the cuff into the arm wrapped around his upper body. The soldier under him cried out and loosened his grip enough that Zack was able get himself free. He threw his elbow back into the soldiers face, busting his nose before reaching to grab his sword as the other soldier was coming back at him. He swung it round and thrust it out in front of him in time for the soldier to find the steel sliding into the flesh of his gut. The soldier collapsed toward him as the weapon was retracted. Zack searched him quickly for the key to the cuffs still attached to his one wrist. He recovered the key and was able to get himself out of the bindings, looking back to see the second soldier crawling away towards an assault rifle lying on the ground. Zack scrambled after him, making it to the rifle first, grabbing hold of it before the soldier had gotten his hands on it. He looked at Zack with fear in his eyes and that notable "please don't kill me!" expression. Zack contemplated shooting him but he took the non-lethal route and reversed the weapon in his grip before throwing its butt into the man's face, knocking him unconscious.

He scanned the area then, making sure he was the only one left standing and that none of the fallen soldiers posed any threat. He set his eyes on the medical vehicle nearby, marching toward it as he sheathed his sword and adjusted the rifle in his hands, pulling the shoulder strap over his one arm and head. He stopped a few times to collect ammo, shoving the magazines in his pockets and grabbing himself a couple pairs of handcuffs as well. When he reached the vehicle, he pulled open the back doors fast, startling the two people inside. Cloud was strapped down to a gurney.

"Get back!" Zack ordered, aiming the rifle at them. They backed away from Cloud as much as the confined space allowed. "You," he pointed at the one closest to him. "Cuff your friend to that bar there," he instructed then, tossing to him one of the pairs of handcuffs he'd grabbed. The medic complied slowly, taking the cuffs and swinging them around one of the handle bars that ran along the underside of the roof before attaching them to the other medic's wrists. "Good, now yourself," Zack said as he tossed the second pair. The medic hesitated. "Do it now or I will shoot you in the face!" he threatened. The medic did as he was told, securing his own wrists to another bar. Zack stepped up into the vehicle then, releasing the rifle and letting it hang from the strap attached to it. He unclipped the restraints holding his friend down and pulled him off the gurney.

"Have a nice day, gentlemen," he said with a wave once he was on the ground again with Cloud over his shoulder. He slammed the back doors shut and retreated quickly with his friend, heading back to where he'd left the supply bag. With Cloud and the supplies in tow, he retreated back into the cover of the forest.

He stopped briefly only to deal with his bleeding gunshot wound. He ripped a strip of material from his undershirt and wrapped his arm tightly, clenching his teeth through the pain. He'd have to dig the bullet out later. His stop only lasted a few minutes before he picked Cloud up again and pushed on. He traced his steps back to river, crossing at the narrow section where it had become a creek, and being cautious about how much noise he was making. It had not escaped him that there would still be soldiers patrolling the area. But he needed to get across that river to get where he was going. He felt a little less anxious once he'd crossed the creek and put some distance between himself and the town. He hadn't heard any sounds or seen anything that suggested he was near any soldiers or that he was being followed. Still, he maintained a quick pace. As quick as he could muster given how tired he was. He felt like a car, out of gas and running on fumes. But his fear motivated him, urged him to push on. He was determined to put at least nine or ten miles behind him before stopping to rest.

He made it to seven. Seven before he'd exhausted himself to the point at which his body made up his mind for him. He was going to stop whether he liked it or not. Just before that point, he had heard the sound of water running. Instantly, he feared he'd run himself in a circle, ending back at the river he'd left, but the sound was softer, less prominent. His knees gave out as he emerged into a small clearing, cut through with a brook. He dropped the duffle bag in his left hand, followed by the rifle, and rolled Cloud's body off his shoulder before collapsing next to him, breathing hard, his chest heaving as he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the intense pain in his body to subside. The throbbing in his head to dim. Many of his muscles were burning from their exertion. His stomach tightened as a wave of nausea ran through him. He managed to get himself turned over before he lost control and deposited his stomach contents onto the ground. Holding himself up on his elbows and knees, he trembled as he spit a few times, ridding his mouth of the traces of vomit left over. Slowly, he crawled his way over to the brook, resting on his stomach as he reached down to retrieve some water in his cupped hands. He drank it down quickly, feeling it soothe his esophagus and clenching stomach before dropping his hands back into the water and resting his right cheek on the ground. He took some deep breaths, trying to steady his quivering body.

Images of the fight were still resonating through him like echoes. It hadn't been an easy fight. Not at all. It had made him realize how weak he actually was and how underdeveloped his skill had become when he was locked away in the Shinra Mansion's basement. The chance he'd be faced with a fight would become more frequent the closer he drew to Midgar. He was starting to believe he'd made the wrong decision in trying to get back to the city. His reasons were purely selfish.

He thought back on the day before. While resting for some food and recoupment, he had discovered something tucked away in his pocket he'd long forgotten about. A folded piece of paper, crinkled from its time spent in the clothing. It was given to him by Aeris. Written in her softly scrawled lettering, the note read: "There's only one thing I want most. To be together with you more often."

He'd made the decision right then that he had to go to Midgar. He had to try to find her. Had to make sure she knew he hadn't forgotten about her. He knew it wasn't a good idea but he couldn't move on without her knowing.

If he was going to make it to the city, he needed his strength back. He needed to be ready for the toughest fights of his life. It would be easier said than done for sure. Lifting himself back onto his knees slowly, he scooped up some more water, using it to wash his arms and face of blood and sweat. He unwrapped the wound in his left arm and inspected it. He needed to get the bullet out but had nothing to dig it out with. He'd have to do it with his fingers. It was an agonizing task that took longer than he wished. He groaned deeply as he forced his way into the hole, wanting desperately for the pain to desist. Finally, he managed a good grip on the bullet. He pulled slowly, but firmly, not wanting to lose it. A moment later he was holding it in his shaking hand. He tossed it into the brook and used some water to rinse out the wound. Marsh had been smart enough to equip the supply bag with some antiseptic but that was it. For the time being he was forced to bandage it in another strip of cloth from his undershirt.

When he'd finished with his arm he made his way back over to Cloud, checking to make sure he was breathing alright before reaching once again for the supplies. He was in need of another few injections. Cloud was as well. And in a few hours he was going to be needing more mako. He needed food as well. Zack had been struggling with finding things to feed Cloud. Everything needed to be crushed and virtually liquefied for his unconscious friend to be able to consume it. Even then, it was an awkward fight to get him to swallow down what was put in his mouth. His body seemed to have a hard time with its most basic of automatic functions. Most of what Zack fed to him either ended up sitting in his mouth and going nowhere or finding its way to his airway where it'd be coughed out after his lungs realized that breathing had become a problem. He did manage to consume a little though, at least enough that it seemed to be sustaining him. But he was going to start losing body mass soon.

It was getting late, the sun lowering ever-closer to the horizon as the temperature began to drop. By the time Zack had gotten something ready to feed to Cloud, the light had become low in the clearing. He was apprehensive about lighting a fire. He didn't want to draw any attention to the area, especially when he suspected someone may be tracking them. They also hadn't made it very far from the town. There was a good chance soldiers were still searching for them around the area. He suspected it would be a very uncomfortable night. He wished he were capable of further travel but he knew his body wouldn't last long before collapsing again. What he needed more than anything was sleep.

After another long, trying time of getting Cloud to eat, he laid his shivering friend on the ground and covered him with the small blanket Marsh had provided with the other supplies. He laid himself down next to him then, pulling him close, Cloud's face pressing against his chest. Zack wrapped his arms around him and held onto him tightly, hoping to use his friend's body heat to warm himself. As he listened to the sounds of the insects chirping around him he fought the sudden urge he had to cry. He'd come close to losing Cloud just hours earlier. He, himself, had been close to being re-captured. The reality of the situation fell heavy upon him. He felt something then he never dreamed possible. A small part of him was longing for that imprisonment he'd left behind. Not for the pain, not for the fear and the torment. For the security. For the place where there was no uncertainty in his decisions because his decisions were made for him. It had been so long since he'd had free will that he'd forgotten what a bittersweet gift it was.

Keeping himself and Cloud alive now was his full responsibility. No one else was going to do it for them. And as sure as he was he understood that, he let himself slip. He drifted off without meaning to, waking only when he felt Cloud moving in his grasp. He was shaking hard and he'd thrown up at least once, much of his stomach contents still in his mouth. He was sweating all over, his clothing damp with it. His breathing was shallow and slow.

Zack cursed himself immediately, remembering he was supposed to have given Cloud a mako injection what was probably hours ago. He sat up quickly, ignoring his aching body's protests. He placed a hand on Cloud's forehead. His skin was the hottest it'd been since they'd left the Mansion. He focused first on clearing his friend's mouth of vomit before rolling him onto his back and pulling off his armor and shirts, exposing his chest to the cool night air. Zack doused his friend's undershirt in water from the brook, ringing it out lightly before folding it and placing it on Cloud's forehead. He wasn't sure what to do next. If he gave him mako now his temperature would only further elevate. All he could really do was sit and watch as Cloud took one slow, wheezing breath after another. After only a few moments of sitting in the darkness with his sick friend, he couldn't handle it. He needed to talk.

"So uh…I messed up, Spike. Again," he began as he gripped his bandaged arm and massaged it gently. "You'd think it'd be easy. To take care of us, after everything we've been through. It's gonna get harder, I know." He sat in silence another moment before continuing. "It'd be a hell of a lot easier if you were awake, ya know? I mean, I don't mind hauling your ass around," he said with a smile that faded quickly. "But…I miss you. You kept me sane, buddy, and…I need you back." He wiped away a few tears that had strayed from his eyes, drying his hand on his one pant leg.

Cloud's breathing faded suddenly, becoming nothing more than small huffs. Zack got to his knees and leaned over him, placing a hand to his neck to check his pulse, eyes widening as he barely felt anything at all.

"No, no, no, _no_," he protested as he went for the supply bag. He didn't know what he was searching for and he felt overcome with panic as he realized there was nothing in the duffle that was going to help them. But he remembered then, the slim plastic case in one of his pants' deep pockets. He had forgotten about it. He pulled it from his pocket, opening it slowly, fearing what the water may have done to it earlier when he was crossing the river. Surprisingly, the case had been airtight. The slender syringes inside were in perfect condition. Taking one in his fingers he gazed at the clear liquid inside, tapping the side of it as he removed the plastic tip cover on the needle. Squeezing a small amount of the liquid out first he lowered himself back next to Cloud, taking his left arm and turning it so his inner elbow was facing up. He squeezed his friend's upper arm and inserted the needle into the one vein in his inner elbow, just above the metal disk still implanted there.

With the press of his thumb, the liquid rushed into Cloud's body. There was a tense moment when nothing changed. Then, Cloud's chest rose a little higher as his lungs took in a deeper breath of air. It wasn't the largest breath of air but it was something.

Placing the emptied syringe back in the case, Zack reached to check Cloud's pulse once more. Better. Not the best, but better. He breathed a short sigh of relief.

Any plans he'd had for sleep he knew had gone out the window. He needed to stay awake to make sure Cloud stayed alive while he made trip after trip to the brook to re-moisten the folded shirt he was using to keep his friend's temperature under control. He had been right. It was an uncomfortable night. And long. He couldn't ignore the good fortune that came with the sunrise however, as Cloud's breathing became more regulated and his temperature had dropped to a level that was only slightly elevated.

"Good thing," he spoke aloud as he was packing up their things. "We need to conserve what mako there is left for you. The longer you can go without it the better," he concluded. He didn't know how long they were going to be on the run before he'd found a doctor to look at Cloud. That was another thing he didn't like to think too much about until the time came. He wasn't entirely sure where he would find a doctor to take care of his friend who would treat him discretely and for free. They didn't have any money after all. _One problem at a time_, he told himself.

He left the clearing early, wanting to take advantage of the daylight. Despite feeling tired, sore, and a little weaker than he wished, he felt a little more optimistic. It was a bright, clear, sunny day. Warm, but not too hot. That at least was working in his favor. It was hard work carrying his friend around. He was sure he sweat enough in a day to fill two water glasses. But the task made him stronger. The forest had been thinning, giving way to pastures and grasslands. He was careful to avoid open areas as much as possible, but sometimes it was unavoidable. He would wade through tall, thick grasses and hope it was enough to camouflage him. By afternoon he was happy to have seen no signs of military occupation in the areas he'd been travelling, present or past. Everything was just…serene.

The sounds were changing as he moved, giving way to different, once forgotten ones. The sounds of distant seagulls brought a smile to Zack's face. He knew then he must be close to a body of water. The next indication of that was the lighthouse. Across a wide field of sweet grasses and wildflowers, he could see the top of the structure come into view. He knew he needed to be cautious. He didn't know if the lighthouse was in operation or if it was attended by someone. For all he knew there _was _an attendant and he or she had been told to watch for him and Cloud.

He avoided the lighthouse, heading off in a diagonal about a mile down from it, still intent on reaching the shore of whatever body of water would be waiting. He needed a place to set up camp and the bluffs would be perfect.

The water didn't come into view until he found himself right on the bluff's edge. He'd been making his way up a hill, adjusting and readjusting Cloud to make sure he didn't slide from his shoulder. As the ground leveled off, he could see it. Blue water. Stretching for miles. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, just listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore. _Amazing_, he thought as he opened his eyes once again and set off along the bluff, looking for a way down to the shore

Back at the clearing Zack had left, a Turk had been examining the site. She was crouched next to the brook, a discarded bullet she'd fished out of the water in her hand. She retrieved her cell phone from her one pocket and flipped it open, pressing the number two followed by 'Send.' A male voice answered.

"Anything yet?" the voice questioned without any form of greeting.

"Not exactly," she answered softly. "But I'm close. They'll be in custody by this evening."

"Make it happen," the voice ordered and ended the call.

Pocketing the bullet, the Turk flipped her phone shut and headed back to where she'd left her vehicle.

000

Zack stumbled a few times as he was making his way down some of the rocky trails to the beach. He nearly lost hold of his friend several times but he won the battle in the end, reaching flat ground and looking to find a place to rest. He found a semi-sheltered and secluded spot, off the direct beach area, a place near one of the bluff's rocky walls. Propping Cloud up against a boulder, he retrieved from the duffle a plastic bottle he'd filled with water back at the brook they'd left behind that morning. He drank only a little, knowing that the water nearby now was saltwater and that he'd probably have to travel another fair distance for freshwater. He gave some to Cloud next, tilting his head back gently and pouring a small amount of the liquid into his mouth. It took a moment for his body to swallow it down.

He sat down next to his friend then. Capping off the bottle and leaning his head back against the boulder. "I gotta get some sleep tonight," he spoke aloud. He could easily have drifted off right then but he had things to get done first. Most importantly, the tending of his arm. The wound had clotted but it wasn't enough to keep him from bleeding out. He needed stitches. That wasn't something that was going to happen anytime soon. He'd have to do the next best thing. Cauterize it shut. He didn't really have anything to use as a tool. As he examined the pommel on the hilt of his sword he decided it may just work. It was flat, metal, and just big enough to cover the wound.

He set to work getting a fire started. To occupy him while he worked, he started telling Cloud a story.

"When I was growing up in Gongaga," he began as he worked. "I had these two friends and from the time we were five years old we wanted to have our own secret fort. When we were each about ten we started building this thing. And I'll tell you, by the time we were twelve, that thing was incredible. Well, I'm sure it wasn't as great as we thought it was but it was great at the time," he said with a short laugh. "Anyway, we get this thing done, and we're eager to spend a whole night in it so we get all our stuff out there and we build this fire next to it. A few hours into the night we go to collect more wood and when we get back the thing is on _fire_. Some dried leaves had caught the flames and blown onto the fort. We had made most of it out of old dried wood so the thing went up like there was no tomorrow. By the time we got it out there wasn't much left. The _really _pathetic part of the story is that we were too embarrassed to go back home and explain what'd happened so we spent the night on the ground outside. Probably one of the worst nights of my childhood."

He looked over at Cloud. He was still slumped against the boulder, unmoving. Zack sighed and fed a few more sticks to the small fire he'd gotten going. Taking hold of his sword he gazed at it in the fading glow of the sunset. He wasn't looking forward to what he had to do. He held the hilt toward the fire, trying to keep as much of it from the flame as possible. He wasn't sure what the heat would do it. If it would damage it at all.

"Sorry, Angeal," he muttered aloud. His mentor had taken far better care of the sword before he'd passed it on to Zack. He recalled a time when the man had tried to explain to him that the weapon was too precious a thing to use unless absolutely necessary. Zack had definitely gotten a lot of use out of that sword. He wondered if Angeal would have been mad. Those thoughts faded away then as he unwrapped his bicep and withdrew the pommel of the weapon from the fire. He applied a small amount of antiseptic to the wound before placing a stick in his mouth, biting down on it as he prepared for the inevitable pain.

The pain was everything he expected and more. He'd tried to tell himself he would stay quiet but that goal was shattered almost instantly as he cried out, his teeth sinking harder into the wood braced between his upper and lower jaws. It was a mental and physical fight with himself to keep the hot metal pressed against his skin. While it was only seconds, it felt like hours. Satisfied that he'd cauterized the wound successfully, he dropped the hilt of the sword and pulled the piece of wood from his mouth, spitting out bits that had broken away as he was biting down. He was shaking as he inspected the wound. It was good. Burnt enough to keep it from bleeding but not bad enough that he'd have substantial permanent tissue damage.

A few minutes later he gave himself some more mystery drug injections and let the slight numbness and euphoria take over. He gave Cloud another injection of mako as well, feeling that he'd waited long enough. He was looking pale and like he was about to take another turn for the worst. He'd managed to survive the day without any, which was a good sign in Zack's opinion. More than a day actually, since he'd slipped up the night before and missed giving him a dose then.

They were going to be low on supplies very shortly. They would be out of food in another day. Zack had done what he could along the way to collect edible wild foods along the way, mostly berries and mushrooms. There wasn't likely to be much near the beach. If he had the time he could round up some fish. It was looking more and more like he was going to have to take a gamble in going into a town and either snatch something or beg. _Worry about it when the time comes_, he told himself. That was his motto these days. He mashed some fruit up to feed to Cloud but he didn't bother feeding himself. He felt nauseated more than hungry after the procedure he done on his arm. What he needed was time to relax.

He watched the sunset from next to Cloud, talking every now and then about anything that came into his head. Mostly memories he had from when he was growing up. As the night was creeping over them, he moved Cloud a little closer to the fire, laying him down on his side and covering him with the blanket.

"Sleep tight, buddy, I'll be right back," he whispered close to his ear before coming to a stand and moving away from him. He picked his sword up as well as the piece of material he'd been using as a bandage before heading down toward the beach. He was hesitant about leaving his friend. But the place felt secure. Secure enough that any ambush would clearly be anticipated before happening.

Down at the water's edge, he cleaned his makeshift bandage the best he could. It was stained with blood unlikely to ever come out. He rang the material out tightly before unwinding it and walking with it, holding it out and waiting for it to dry. He watched the water as he walked, glancing up at the stars becoming visible in the sky. He let go of all thoughts and just let his surroundings feed his senses.

When he finally stopped, the bandage had dried enough for him to re-wrap his arm. There was no bleeding now but he still needed something to help keep the site clean. He sighed as he tied the material off and looked out at the waves washing into the shore. They were so subtle under the night sky, just barely illuminated by the moon's light. They were like phantoms, appearing and disappearing quickly, their presence only really known through their sounds.

"What do we do from now on?" he muttered to himself, his eyes travelling up to the top of the lighthouse nearby where a thick beam was shining out to sea. He thought of Angeal then. He would have known what to do in a similar situation. As he thought of his former friend he was brought back to his ponderings over how he'd escaped the testing cylinder in the lab. Marsh claimed that he had already been broken out when she arrived. But there hadn't been anyone else in the lab. Except…

He had seen Angeal. He was sure of it. But he wanted to believe Angeal was alive so badly that he couldn't trust what he thought he saw. Still. He could hope. Letting out a slow breath, he gazed upwards at the stars in the open sky. He wished so badly to have Angeal with him at that moment.

"Angeal," he whispered. "What should I do?"

His thoughts were interrupted by a faint sound. He was only able to pick it up with his enhanced hearing. Any regular person wouldn't have been able to. He knew the sound to be footsteps and he knew to whom they belonged. A Turk. She must have been the one tracking them. He'd suspected it would be _her_. She was one of the best, after all.

"Cissnei," he spoke calmly, without turning back. "It's been awhile."

"Zack," she replied softly. Though years had passed Zack thought she still sounded young. Juvenile. Unchanged since the first time they'd met. "So you _are _alive," she commented, her tone suggesting it was something she'd always suspected. "Are you one of the samples trying to escape?" she questioned uneasily.

Zack scoffed and turned back to glance at her. "I think you know," he said sharply.

There was a brief silence outside of the sounds of the water before Cissnei spoke again. "What did they do to you in that lab?" she asked, something in her voice suggesting she didn't really want to know.

Zack stared at her hard. Impulse had him wanting to tell her to mind her own business. But the way she was looking at him…the pity in her eyes, it forced him to soften himself again. "A lot of things…" he answered her at last, turning his eyes back to the water. "You've come to take us back?" he said then, though it was more of a statement than a question.

She lowered her eyes as he looked at her. A breeze caught hold of her red hair and blew some strands across her face. Her suit pants fluttered a bit against her legs. Something inside Zack snapped. He moved toward Cissnei fast, his form threatening though he intended to prevent a fight with her if at all possible. They'd been friends once. At least in his mind. She stepped back a few steps, her hand reaching down for her shuriken but she paused as Zack stopped in front of her. He grabbed her hands in his so quickly she didn't think to resist.

"Please," he spoke, dropping to his knees in front of her. She looked down in shock at his painfully determined and desperate expression. "Let us escape, I beg you," he pleaded, pressing his forehead to the backs of her hands, still held within his.

"Zack," she began, trying to hold back her own emotions. "I'm sorry…" she uttered to him in a voice so small it seemed barely present. She pulled her hands from his weak hold and walked away from him several feet before stopping. Zack rose to his feet slowly, watching her back as she moved away.

"It's my duty," she said firmly though her voice quivered. She reached for her weapon, brandishing it forcefully. "If you try to escape, I'll—" she faltered a moment and Zack assumed she was rethinking her attack. But she didn't hesitate much longer. As she let her weapon fly, Zack reached for the hilt of his sword, just barely able to stop the weapon before it collided into him. He stood poised, with his blade held ahead of him, ready for Cissnei's next move. He was surprised when she began to walk towards him.

"Don't come any closer!" he ordered and she stopped in her tracks. "I'm leaving now, Cissnei. And if you follow us, next time I'll—" He stopped himself. He couldn't make that threat towards her. He just couldn't. He didn't want to harm her. He would if he had to. But he didn't want to think about it anymore than he had to. He kept his eyes locked on hers, to make sure the message had gotten across before departing quickly.

He made his way back to Cloud, cursing himself for even leaving him to begin with. It was careless of him. He'd thought they were relatively safe down on the beach and he hadn't meant to wander as far as he had. Cloud was still resting where he'd left him. As he observed his friend from a distance he knew they had a problem. It was confirmed that the Turks were after them. He'd suspected it before but having it confirmed was still something of a blow to the gut. He couldn't go any further that night. Not on foot. He desperately needed the rest.

He heard the sound nearby of sand being displaced under shoes. He wasn't surprised when Cissnei appeared once again. He reached for his sword slowly. "Don't make me do this, Cissnei," he spoke sharply, stepping in front of Cloud. The Turk wasn't looking at him though. She was focused on Cloud, stepping to the side a little to be able to see him around Zack.

"He's the one who escaped with you, isn't he?" she questioned, her tone accusatory. Zack stepped over to block her view of Cloud once again.

"Why did you come here?" he asked angrily. "I told you not to follow!"

"He doesn't look very good," Cissnei replied, ignoring his question. "What's happened to him?"

"Mako poisoning," Zack said simply, knowing that wasn't the entirety of it but not willing to get into a conversation about it with the one who was supposed to be arresting him and his friend.

"From the experiments?" the Turk questioned uneasily.

"Yeah," Zack confirmed as he glanced back at Cloud. Cissnei retrieved a cell phone from her pocket then. Zack had to stop himself from nearly charging her. "Hey!" he shouted, panic finding its way to his very core as he imagined the young Turk was going to have an arsenal of Shinra forces storming the beach in a matter of minutes. She raised a hand, silencing him.

"Tseng," she spoke into the phone, "the targets have escaped." That was all she said. Zack could tell she was getting a verbal lashing through the receiver. He lowered his blade slowly as she flipped the cell shut and slipped it back into her pocket.

"Why?" he stumbled to question. She looked past him again at Cloud.

"Does it matter?" she retorted. "That's how it is. So get it together and escape," she ordered before turning her back on him and walking off.

"Cissnei!" he called to her. "Thank you."

She paused and looked back before returning to him. "I have a present for you," she said as she reached into one of her jacket pockets. "I believe in you, Zack, so please accept this." She placed in his hand a set of keys. He looked down at it curiously. "It's parked by the lighthouse," she said with a small smile before turning away one last time, leaving him on the beach with Cloud. He watched after her until she disappeared from his view.


	53. Chapter 50

_Hi everyone. Well...the day has finally arrived. This is the final chapter of "Reduced to Specimens." Or is it...haha! No it is, for now anyway. I really wanted to take my time with this chapter seeing as it's the finale. And an important one at that. Unfortunately, I had to rush some of it because I've been having computer problems. My laptop is going on its seventh year now and while it's been good to me, it's not functioning like it used to. Also, despite my two running anti-virus programs, its been infected by something and in all liklihood when I attempt to remove it, my system's going to crash. At least that's what I've been told. So I needed to hurry to get this out before I did that. Honestly, if my laptop does crash I'm gonna be heartbroken. It's my life. All my stories are on it. They're backed up of course and if I didn't have a comp I could still handwrite my stuff but I type a lot faster than I write. And a lot more legibly lol. __Anyway, if my computer does crash I'm not sure how often there will be updates for "Dreams Incarnate." Let's just hope it doesn't come to that. _

_So, just over a year since this story was started it has been completed! I would like to say a special thank you to all those who've been with me from the beginning and kept reading all the way through! And of course thank you to everyone who took the time to read and who generously added my to your alerts and favourites lists. I will miss writing this story. Which brings me to my next topic! Is it finished? I have a sequel plan. However, I know this story does need edited and there are things that were cut out in the interest of time. What I want to know is if any of you are interested in re-reading the edited story with some additional parts or chapters? If so, please let me know :D_

_In regards to your reviews to the last chapter. I still plan to reply but like I said before, I needed to get this chapter out before something happens to the computer and I can't update for a long time. Thank you so much for your patience. I will be updating with a note, following this chapter with just a few extra bits of infomation, including what's in store for the sequel! _

_Take care for now guys, hope you enjoy the final chapter! _

_Disclaimer: FFVII is property of Square Enix. I'm just a user. _

Chapter L

"Buddy you're a boy make a big noise playin' in the street, gonna be a big man someday. You got mud on your face, you big disgrace, kickin' your can all over the place," Zack sang aloud as he was finishing up washing out his and Cloud's clothing in the fresh water of a spring. He knew they would be only minimally clean afterwards since he didn't have any soap to use, but it would be better than nothing. "Singing' we will, we will, rock you," he went on, resisting the urge to belt out the lyrics and keeping his voice at a moderate volume. There was no way the blood spots from the battle he'd had with those Shinra soldiers a few days earlier would come out of his clothing but thankfully the material was dark enough that the spots weren't _too _obvious. While travelling the night before in the vehicle Cissnei had provided him the keys to, he'd made the decision that he would enter one of the towns in search of food and a few other supplies. He was incredibly nervous about it, but more so because he knew he'd have to leave Cloud alone somewhere while he went off on his own.

He looked back at Cloud, lying next to the dying fire Zack had started hours earlier. He hadn't decided yet if he was going to attempt to drag his unconscious friend into the water to give him a much needed wash, or if he'd use a piece of wet clothing to wet him down with where he lay. Zack was tired, having driven most of the night, trying to put as much distance between them and the forces searching for them. He still couldn't believe Cissnei had actually let him and Cloud go. And helped them even! He definitely felt he owed her one.

At first, he'd imagined he'd be able to take the vehicle all the way to the east coast where they could catch a ride on a boat going to the eastern continent, but he quickly realized that he wasn't going to make it all the way there on one tank of gas and he didn't have any money for fill-ups. _We'll go as far as we can_, he told himself and tried to remain optimistic about it.

His clothes were still a little damp when he put them on and got Cloud ready to leave. "I'm gonna get us some stuff today, Spikey," he said to his friend as he was putting him inside the passenger car on Cissnei's motorcycle. "Hopefully some better tasting food than what we've been eating. What? Money you say? Psh, shame on you doubting me, Spike, I know what I'm doing," he said with a smirk.

Zack didn't realize how much he missed driving until he was on the open road, the wind whipping through his hair and sending chills up and down his spine. He hadn't thought about it the night before because he'd been going over and over in his head what had happened with Cissnei. And beyond that he was only thinking of one thing: escape. Now, more at ease and relaxed with the summer sun overhead, he was remembering the times he used to borrow a bike from the motor pool and take Aeris on trips out of the city. He could still remember how she felt when she pressed against his back, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, playfully smacking him when he sped up quickly to make her jump. He sighed, wishing for those days back.

When they were nearing one of the towns, Zack noticed several signs on the sides of the road advertising the town's marketplace. It was just what he was looking for. He parked the bike just outside the town, taking Cloud from the sidecar and pulling him into the cover of some trees and brush. He propped him against one of the tree trunks and crouched in front of him, already dreading leaving him.

"Hey buddy," he spoke softly, moving some of his overgrown hair from his face. "I'm gonna be right back, okay? You're not gonna take off on me are ya?" he asked lightly, smiling, though inside he was thinking about what had happened when he'd left Cloud alone on the bank of that river. He'd been re-captured temporarily. And it wasn't just recapture that he was worried about. He hadn't abandoned hope that Cloud would wake up sometime soon. It hurt to imagine him finally waking after being in a coma-like state for so long, only to find himself alone and someplace he didn't recognize. He could only hope that Cloud could still hear his voice. Then he'd know if he woke up that Zack would be coming back for him.

"Alright," Zack said as he rose to a stand once again. He left Cloud reluctantly, feeling that familiar anxiety eating away at him instantly. He hurried into the town, his supply bag in hand.

The first order of business would be securing himself some cash. There were far better pickpockets than him. Cloud in fact was very good. A skill he'd picked up from someone they both used to know. Someone Cloud would probably have been long-term friends with had the guy not passed away.

But Cloud wasn't able to do this. It was up to Zack. He needed an easy target. He scanned the crowd

"Bingo," Zack uttered quietly as he spotted a man at an antique stand utterly enveloped in some vase the clerk was showing him. The man's wallet was sitting on the counter nearly a foot away. It was an easy steal indeed. So easy that Zack almost felt unaccomplished as he swiped the thick folded leather and pocketed it quickly. He made his way behind one of the large display booths and retrieved it from his pocket, opening it to see a large wad of cash staring back at him. "My lucky day," he remarked as he pulled out the bills, leaving a few hundred behind. If the man wasn't rich then he was walking around with his savings in his wallet.

Zack set the wallet down on another counter discretely as he was passing, turning back when he was a good distance away to see the clerk running the stand picking it up and looking around. _Hopefully she sees to it the careless man gets his wallet back_, Zack thought as he began browsing the stands.

Finding food for himself was easy enough. Finding something for Cloud would be more difficult. He paused as he was passing a stand selling baby goods. Something had caught his eye. Stacks of brightly-coloured jars. He picked one of them up tentatively and looked at it.

"They're all-natural!" the lady behind the counter said cheerfully.

"Really?" he replied, turning the jar over in his hands. "Perfect," he added, though he was saying it more to himself. _Spike's gonna kill me when he finds out I fed him baby food though_. A smile came across his face as he thought about it. He paid for ten jars and the lady behind the counter threw in an extra five for free because he had her convinced he was a new father with no idea what he was doing.

With most of the food covered, he made his way over to a display cart that was offering everything from first aid supplies and vitamin supplements, to small arms and bladed weaponry. He picked up a roll of bandaging so he could finally have something sterile and appropriate to wrap his arm in. He picked up some supplements as well, imagining he'd be able to crush them and put them in Cloud's food. That would ensure he was getting his nutrients. He could use them himself. He placed the items on the counter and waited for the clerk to ring them through the register. He gazed at a few hunting knives as he waited. He was tempted but he didn't have that much money and he wanted to conserve some in case he needed it later.

"SOLDIER huh?" the clerk spoke up, drawing Zack's attention away from the knives.

"Uh…" Zack hesitated as he glanced down at himself, having forgotten he was even dressed as a SOLDIER. "Yeah," he confirmed with a polite nod and smile, feeling his nerves begin to twitch. He didn't like being noticed or paid attention to.

"I thought so. Though your uniform threw me off. Seems a little outdated," the clerk continued. Zack thought about it briefly. It had been four years since he'd been part of SOLDIER. It made sense that the uniforms would have been updated by now.

"Yeah, I'm a vintage-lover," he said somewhat sarcastically.

"You guys have had your hands busy lately with Wutai, eh?" the clerk said then.

"What do you mean?" Zack asked back, not really understanding. _Wutai? There shouldn't be any problem with Wutai, not since that peace treaty was signed what was it? Like six years back?_

"Well, first Wutai wants Shinra to help them out in defeating the Shutzi people and now not only are you guys fighting a people you don't even have a problem with, but you also have to deal with protestors from both Wutai _and _the eastern continent," the clerk began his argument. "Now I can't stand that President Shinra. No offense to you if you like the guy, but he's a snake. Always putting his affairs above all others. He's put you SOLDIERs out there on the front lines to fight a battle with no likely beneficial outcome. It's absurd!"

The man finished speaking and looked at Zack expectantly, waiting for him to respond. He stood with his mouth slightly open, not sure what he should say. He was so confused. Shinra working _with _Wutai? Another war with a race of supposedly peaceful people? No wonder there were protestors.

"Yeah…" he replied quietly as he lowered his eyes. He was trying hard to absorb what the man had said."You got a current newspaper around here?" he asked after a few moments.

"Sure do," the clerk said as he motioned behind him. Zack's eyes widened as he looked upon the giant headline. _Shinra Military combing the continent for escaped fugitives_.

"Ah!" Zack couldn't stop the sound that erupted from his mouth. The clerk eyed him curiously. "Ha, ah…" he struggled for a recovery. "Just remembered I forgot something," he explained lamely. The clerk nodded and took one of the papers from a clip holding it on a line. He put it in a paper bag along with the other items Zack had wanted.

"Fifteen," the man said and Zack dug some of the money from his pocket.

"Thanks," Zack said with a taught smile as he took his change and his purchase and turned to leave quickly. The man watched after him a moment, glancing back once at the papers behind him. He shrugged and went back to his work.

As Zack was glancing back to see if the clerk had suspected anything of him, he wasn't watching where he was going and he found himself walking into a girl fixing something on the front of her display cart.

"Whoa!" Zack blurted as he grabbed the girls arm to keep her from falling over and he fought to keep himself from falling on top of her. "Sorry, I…" he trailed off as he looked into the girl's face. She smiled up at him, her green eyes lighting up. She was very pretty, with dark hair that framed her heart-shaped face softly. She laughed a little as he struggled to string a sentence together. "Uh…I—sorry," was all he was able to come up with.

"That's okay, I wasn't exactly watching either," she replied as she took a small step back from him. "You're…not from around here are you?" she asked then.

"No," he confessed as he readjusted the duffle bag strap on his shoulder.

"Where _are _you from?" the girl questioned.

Zack cleared his throat a little before answering. "Sorta all over," he partially lied. He didn't really want to divulge any real facts about himself at the moment. He couldn't stop staring at her eyes. They were just like…like _hers_.

He managed to tear away from those orbs to gaze at the pendant hanging from a chain around her neck. It was a flower, made of gold.

"That's a nice pendant," he spoke up and blushed slightly.

"I made it," she said as she picked it up in her fingers.

"Really?" Zack questioned in surprise.

"Oh yeah, I make all kinds of jewelry! Have a look!" she said happily, motioning to her display cart.

Zack stepped towards it, scanning over the various necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings. It was all beautiful but…

"You got anything like what you're wearing?" he inquired after a minute. She thought about it for a moment.

"Oh!" she spouted brightly, moving behind the counter and taking something from underneath. She rummaged a moment through a small box before pulling something out. The piece was wrapped in a bit of plastic. She unwrapped it and placed the item on the counter in front of Zack. He looked down in awe at the pendants hanging from a thin gold chain. There were two of them. Though technically they were one. The first was a three-petal flower and the second a heart. The flower's stem went through the heart, making them one. He knew immediately he needed it get it.

"How much?" he asked.

"Well,,," the girl began. "I can tell by looking at you that it's for someone pretty special, so...thirty, for both pendant and chain."

"Done," Zack said with a wide smile, retrieving the money while she wrapped up the necklace.

000

There was a moment when Zack reached the place he'd left Cloud that he held his breath, hoping to God his friend was as he'd left him. He wasn't. He was still where he'd left him, but not _as _he'd left him. He'd left him propped against a tree. He returned to find him lying on his side on the ground. He observed Cloud silently a moment before approaching slow. Hope fluttered in his heart a moment as he imagined Cloud had not just fallen over with gravity. That he'd actually lain himself down purposely.

"Spikey?" Zack spoke. Cloud remained still. "You awake, buddy?"

Dare to dream and you risk disappointment. Cloud didn't move. Not even an involuntary twitch. Zack sighed, crouching down and picking his friend up to take him back to the bike.

"Someday soon, buddy…" he said wistfully as he lowered Cloud into the sidecar.

That evening, Zack finally put down the newspaper he'd been engaged in so thoroughly for the past few hours and opened the first jar of baby food he'd gotten from the market. "Well, we're in the paper, Spike," he announced. Though it wasn't as bad as he'd feared. There were no pictures. A few brief descriptions, but not enough to point directly at them. The article did give him a pretty good idea of where forces were searching for them though. That was a handy bit of information. "At least they're calling us fugitives and not monsters on the loose," he added cheerily before shaking his head. "Hope you like mashed carrots, kid," he said in amusement as he stirred in some vitamins he'd crushed up. He greatly appreciated not having to mash the food himself. It wasn't the easiest of tasks he'd found. Later, as he lay beside the fire, Cloud tucked closely next to him, he held the necklace he'd bought in his hand, watching it sparkle as the light from the flames bounced off it. _A gift for her_, he thought. _If she'll have it…_

The next day as Zack was navigating an old road with sparse traffic, he passed a population sign and nearly skidded into the ditch. He made a u-turn and went back, stopping in front of the sign.

"No flippin' way..." he breathed as he read the sign. _Gongaga Pop: 2100_. "Heh, the place has grown," he joked aloud. "You won't believe it, buddy," he spoke to Cloud without looking at him. "We're entering my home territory."

All he could do for what seemed like an eternity was stare at the sign. He hadn't thought he was as far south as he apparently was. "So much for my navigational skills," he muttered. He didn't know what to do. He could go back…find an alternate route to the coast. But…

But…

_This is a bad idea_, he told himself as he was driving towards the town. _A terrible idea. Someone will be waiting. The army? The Turks? Someone. Or not. Maybe no one will be there because they know I would know it's a stupid idea to show up here. Maybe…_

"Shit," he cursed aloud. He knew if there was one place Shinra forces would look for him, it would be his parents place. And that's just where he was headed. He wasn't dumb enough to bring Cloud there with him. He hid him carefully before heading in the direction of what he had always considered 'home.' He cursed himself over and over, wishing he'd been able to rid himself of the overwhelming need he felt to see his family.

He approached cautiously. Everything seemed normal. There didn't appear to be any signs of foreign occupation. Maybe it really wasn't such a bad idea. He could see his parents, stock up on some food, maybe get some rest…

"Honestly," A voice spoke from behind him as he neared what was his front door as a child. It was still the same colour of bright yellow. He turned slowly, knowing who he would be faced with. He had to admit, he was a little relieved, and yet angry at the same time. He really had made the wrong choice. Cissnei glared back at him, her arms crossed over her chest. "You sure are carefree with your actions, Zack. I was sure even _you_ would be smart enough to know we'd be waiting to ambush you if you showed up at your parent's house." Zack said nothing. "You came to see your parents?" she questioned then.

"Duh," Zack snapped, knowing it was quite obvious that's why he was there. "Is it so damn wrong?" he asked. "To want to see some of the people I love who've spent years thinking I was dead? It's pretty fucking normal I would think," he added as he placed his hands on his hips. Cissnei stared back at him, an eyebrow raised. He shook his head lightly. "I…wasn't really thinking," he said lowly. That wasn't true. He had thought extensively about it. And still ended up making the irresponsible, selfish choice. Now that his plan had been thwarted he felt stupid and depressed. He didn't realize how much he truly wanted to be with his family until he was within reach of them.

"How are they? My parents?" he asked, trying to keep the sadness from his voice.

"They're well. They miss you," Cissnei answered truthfully.

He turned away from her, dropping his arms and preparing to depart. "Where are you going?" Cissnei called to him.

"Leaving," he replied without turning back.

"Be careful. You should be more cautious. There's been reports of something in the village."

Zack halted and waited to hear more, still not looking back. When Cissnei remained silent he questioned it. "Who?" he asked.

"Angeal," she answered. Something in her voice suggested she was skeptical. Zack pivoted fast to look at her, to see if she was serious.

"Angeal?" he echoed her, his eyes widening. Excitement rose in him at the thought that others, not only him, had seen the man. This meant he wasn't crazy, that he hadn't imagined what he saw. It was possible, and likely probable that Angeal had been at the Shinra mansion. _But why then did he not help us further? _he asked himself. _And why not help sooner? Why leave us rotting in the lab for four years first? _Though there was so much emotion he could have expressed at that moment, he remained neutral, pacing a few steps.

"Aren't you surprised?" Cissnei asked him, her own tone shocked. "You were with him when he died. Surely you must be a little taken aback!"

"Why would he come here?" Zack spoke quietly, ignoring her questions.

"Maybe he wanted to see you," Cissnei suggested. "What other reason would he have?"

There was a heavy silence as Zack stared toward the cliffs on the edge of town. Cissnei watched him a moment before speaking. "You have ten minutes to get out of here, Zack."

Zack turned to say goodbye but she had already left.

000

After Zack's failed attempt to see his family, things seemed to descend quickly into darkness. Everywhere Zack and Cloud went they were faced with a problem: obstacles in the road, close calls with local authorities searching for the escaped 'fugitives,' the changing weather conditions, illness…

Zack had gotten sick with a cold the same day they left Gongaga. It had been years since he'd been sick like that. Though after living in a fairly sterile environment almost the entire four years, he was surprised he hadn't gotten sick the moment he got outside.

Travelling was miserable while he was ill. And everything became that much harder to do. It took all the effort he could muster to force himself to make sure Cloud was taken care of when all he wanted to do was sleep and be taken care of himself. To make matters worse, the mako supply had run out. Zack was fearful of what that meant for Cloud. Their other medical supplies were critically low as well. Zack wasn't sure what to do. He'd thought about finding a pharmacy to break into but he hated going into the towns. He couldn't handle the mental stress of it.

Two days after they'd run out of mako, Cloud went into severe withdrawal. He vomited everything Zack gave him and soon enough began vomiting blood. He wouldn't even hold down water, which had Zack worried that he would become too dehydrated. His friend's temperature seemed to run back and forth from being low to high. One minute he was icy cold, and the next he had a raging temperature. He shivered. He shook. And eventually he seized.

Zack was beyond frightened. He was terrified because he didn't know what to do. He hammered at his own head trying to come up with something but he soon realized he was helpless to do anything at all. All he could do was sit by his friend, trying to keep him comfortable while talking to him and urging him to drink water, even if he was only going to throw it up.

As the time they spent in one place stretched out, Zack frequently found himself looking around nervously, anticipating and expecting the worst. That they would be tracked down and captured when travel and escape were nearly impossible.

For a day and a half, Zack barely left Cloud's side, and he didn't sleep. He was constantly monitoring his friend, while he remained ready to administer a shot of epinephrine should the time come. Thankfully, it never did.

Nearly two days after Cloud's massive withdrawal symptoms began, they subsided. He was still sick but at a much less critical level. Even once Cloud was over his withdrawal, he still had mako poisoning and like it or not, if Zack wanted his friend to survive he would need to find a doctor to treat him.

One step at a time. Always one step at a time.

They were back to travelling on the morning of the third day but were forced to abandon the bike just thirteen miles from Corvina Seaport, the place Zack hoped to catch a ride to the eastern continent. There had been police patrolling the roads, looking for a 'stolen' motorcycle belonging to Shinra. Zack carried Cloud the rest of the way to the port, moving slower than normal on account of him still fighting off the last of his cold.

Surprisingly, Zack was able to secure himself and Cloud a few spots on a cargo vessel free of charge, so long as Zack helped with the loading and unloading of the cargo. He instantly felt a burden lift from his shoulders the moment the ship hit open water. He felt freer out there. Safer. And for the first time since they'd escaped the mansion he was able to really sleep. It was not without nightmares, but it was a solid eight hours of rest at least. He had time to himself, to relax, and he was given the chance to interact again. He was even given the opportunity to spar a few times with some of the crew. He liked the crew. They didn't ask questions. They didn't seem to care that he and Cloud appeared to be SOLDIERs and that Cloud was perpetually unconscious. After three days at sea, Zack was enlightened by the captain as to why that was.

"You're the escaped fugitives," the captain said as he was leaning back in his chair at the dinner table. The boat rocked the liquid contents in the glasses resting on the worn wood top.

"What," Zack blurted, his mouth half full of food. "No!" he denied quickly, nearly dropping his fork.

"Sure you are. But believe me, no one on this crew cares," the captain revealed. Zack stared back at him in semi-shock. "Can't really talk about your friend on account of him bein' all coma-like, but you certainly seem like an alright guy. And everyone knows the Shinra company is twisted. I'm sure whatever you were put away for was unjustified."

Zack set down his fork and swallowed what was left in his mouth. "Thank you," he said sincerely with a grateful nod.

The captain returned a short nod of his own before rising from his chair. "Well. I certainly hope you're running towards a good thing."

"I am," Zack assured him with a smile. The captain left him to finish his meal alone then.

It was another day before they docked in Junon. Zack helped unload the cargo as he promised before bidding the crew a farewell.

Alone once again, Zack's first plan of action was to get out of the city. It was too crowded, especially with military and SOLDIER personnel. One thing he did notice while he was there, however, was that numerous protestors lined the streets outside the large army base. It was just like the man in the market had said…

Zack missed being a SOLDIER. He couldn't deny that. But he'd never wished to go to war. Though he'd been to Wutai, he'd been lucky enough to avoid being on the front lines—more like Angeal wouldn't let him be sent there—and as shameful as it was to admit, he was happy to avoid that duty once again.

000

"The targets were spotted in Peyell," the Turk, Tseng, spoke to his small group of subordinates.

"The _targets?_" Cissnei challenged, her eyes fierce. "Just call them by their names, Tseng. Or have you changed your mind?"

Tseng averted his eyes a moment. "No. I apologize. The militia is mobilized. They know the location of Zack and Cloud. There's reason to believe they are not concerned with bringing them into custody alive. If we want to save their lives, we need to act quickly. I want you all in the air. They'll be easier to spot from above. And remember. Discretion is of utmost importance."

He dismissed the group, but stopped one of them before leaving.

"Reno," he spoke firmly, a hand grasping his shoulder. The fiery red-haired Turk turned to face him. "Can I trust you and Rude to do this?" he asked. Reno rolled his eyes.

"Kinda like the pot callin' the kettle black, dontcha think, boss?"

"Alright," Tseng said with a bit of nervousness in his acceptance. Reno did have a point.

Once Reno had departed, Cissnei approached the leader.

"Thank you, sir. Thank you for this," she said with a comforting smile. It eased the shame he felt over his present betrayal. He gave her a nod and she turned to leave.

"I'm doing it for _her_," he said when he was alone. He thought about her then. She would be waiting. She must have felt Zack's presence growing stronger. Soon, she would smile again.

000

"So, what are you gonna do when we get to Migar?" Zack asked as he stared out at the passing rocky desert-like terrain. There was the expected silence from Cloud before Zack turned back to his friend. "I'm just joking you know," he said, a wide smile crossing his face. He'd been bugging his Cloud, suggesting that when they reached the city they were going to go their separate ways. "We're friends right? I'd never abandon you," he added as he ruffled Cloud's hair a little. _He hates that_, he thought sadly though he didn't let his happy expression change. All things considered, he _was_ happy. It had been nearly a month since they'd been saved from Hojo's torturous grasp and it was almost as if Shinra had forgotten about them. Zack took it as a sign that there may be hope at a normal life after all.

They weren't without their problems of course. The last of the drugs Germaine had given Zack the night they escaped were gone. So was their food, Zack having given Cloud the last of the baby food he'd purchased before they hitched a ride on the back of truck headed to the city.

_Doesn't matter_, Zack told himself. They would be in Midgar by late afternoon and at the church by evening. _The _church. Her church. He hadn't let himself think about what he'd do if she wasn't there. No. She would be. He could feel it.

At that moment, the truck hit a rut and bounced. Cloud's back slid along the side of the bed and he slumped down onto his side.

"Sorry 'bout that," the driver shouted out.

"That's alright!" he called back before reaching under Cloud's arms and pulling his head and shoulders into his lap. His breath caught in his chest then as he saw something in Cloud's face change. His eyelids fluttered, ever so slightly and his lower lip twitched. "Cloud?" he dared to breathe his name, clutching his friend a little tighter. "Can you hear me?" There was no response from his friend. "Please…wake up, Spikey."

The distant sound of something overhead found him looking to the sky, straining his eyes in apprehension to see what he was sure he heard. "No," he whispered.

Yes. He could see it. A Shinra helicopter, flying low and heading in their direction. No. Not just one. More. Several more. Military choppers. The sound of their blades whipping through the air and their engines rattling grew louder by the second. He pulled himself out from under Cloud, holding his head and lowering it to the truck bed carefully before crouching near the window of the cab and shouting in. "Hey! We need to stop!"

"It's another twenty minutes to Midgar!" the driver called back to him.

"I know! But you gotta let us off here, now!" he urged frantically. The driver pulled the truck to a stop immediately, finding Zack nearly body-checking the cab. He kicked the tailgate open and jumped out before reaching for Cloud. He dragged him off the bed and onto the ground, closing the tailgate once again. He didn't have time to thank the driver as he began pulling Cloud with him into the cover of some nearby rocks and greenery. He found a small alcove within a few boulders and decided it was probably the best place to set Cloud down. He would be fairly hidden and protected should a fight ensue.

"Okay, buddy," he said as he lowered him onto the dirt, positioning him in a slouched seated position. His head hung against his chest. "I'm gonna go have a look around. I'll be right back though. So don't go wandering off on your own." He smiled at his own remark before placing his hands on the sides of his friend's head and lifting it slowly so he could see his face. He was desperately hoping to see something like he had just minutes ago. Some sort of movement. Anything. When he was met with nothing he sighed before pressing his forehead to Cloud's lightly. He could feel the soft sweep of Cloud's breath over the lower half of his face.

"We're gonna make it through this," he said as he pulled back hesitantly. "We have to."

He rose to his feet slowly, turning away from Cloud. At the same time, Cloud lifted his head slightly. He had heard Zack's voice. Had heard him speaking. He'd tried to say something back but his lips seemed immovable, his vocal cords inoperable. He'd spent what felt like forever trying to climb out of the darkness that was gripping him and now, only now, had he made it into the light. _Zack_, he spoke inside himself. _Wait_. He struggled to make himself move but the only thing he was able to do was lift an arm stiffly. He reached out to his friend, tried to grasp him but all he was reaching to was Zack's silhouette as he was walking away. The movement had been too much for him. He slipped back into unconsciousness, his arm falling back at his side.

Zack wasn't going to survey the area. He was going to prepare himself for a battle. The militia knew their location. Had no doubt seen them as they were approaching. His top priority now was making sure Cloud stayed hidden and that they didn't get their hands on him. The birds landed on the plateau, emptying their passengers onto the dusty cliffs. Taking a deep breath, Zack emerged from the cover of the rocky area he'd left Cloud and looked on at his opponents.

He had been ready for a fight but there was no way he could have prepared himself for what he was faced with. He couldn't even count the number of soldiers staring back at him. It was an overwhelming number. His eyes searched out one of the commanding officers. He appeared calm and confident, positive that Zack was not going to be much of a challenge for them. Zack chuckled inwardly at the thought. If there was one thing he was certain of, it was that he wouldn't be making it easy for them to bring him down.

"Honestly," Zack spoke lightly as he looked on at the soldiers facing him. "Freedom sure is pricy." He reached for the hilt of his sword, pulling it from its sheath and holding it in front of his face. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. "Never lose your dreams," he told himself firmly, refusing to feel fear at that point. "No matter the situation, never let go of your pride as a SOLDIER." Angeal's teachings were as fresh in his mind as they'd ever been. He released a battle cry then, power surging through his body to the balls of his feet where he pushed himself forward and sprinted toward the first line of soldiers.

He met the first wave fiercely, taking down several soldiers within seconds. The first group was armed with swords, a weapon not previously used in the militia. The soldiers appeared to be aiming to try and capture him still, but Zack could tell that goal was an unstable one. When it came right down to it, they'd rather kill him to save more of themselves than risk their lives trying for capture. Besides, they had no intentions of turning him over to Shinra if he was captured. If caught, he would be interrogated, beaten, and then executed. It would be their form of protest against the president and his Turks, who did still wish greatly to take Zack alive. Zack sensed this and knew surrender wouldn't be an option. It was 'do or die.'

The first few groupings of soldiers were going down easily, but that was all about to change as the first sounds of gunfire rang out. Zack asked himself how many were shooting. Ten? Twenty? He couldn't tell. He was too busy dodging and blocking. His sword was big enough to act as a partial shield but it was a band aid to a gaping wound. The fact was he was just too outnumbered to avoid injury. He was grazed numerous times by bullets whizzing past him, shredding his clothing and skin.

The entire time Zack fought, it hadn't entered into his mind that he may lose the fight. He kept focused, putting all his effort into anticipating and thwarting his opponents attacks. He picked them off mostly one at a time, but every so often one massive strike from his sword would take out two or three at once. He watched as the number of soldiers decreased while their ammunition diminished and they were left defenseless. Only a few managed to reload before Zack got to them. Zack felt an air of invincibility surrounding him. But it couldn't possibly last.

Finally a bullet made its way past his defensive moves and hit him in the shoulder, taking him by surprise. He pivoted fast in the direction the shot had come, seeing one soldier alone amongst a heap of bodies. He fired two more shots before the cartridge was emptied. Zack blocked the first with his blade but the second hit him in his hip, throwing him to the ground where he grabbed a discarded rifle nearby and fired on the soldier before he could reload. He rolled to face the opposite direction and fire upon two others before getting to his feet and dropping the spent weapon to the ground.

Being shot weakened him quickly, his arms shaking as he held onto the hilt of his sword. He took out a few opponents within his reach before dropping to his one knee as several others aimed their reloaded firearms at him. He held his sword in front of himself vertically, the tip of the blade digging into the dirt as he shielded himself from the oncoming shots. He tried to count them, so he would know when their ammo ran out. But it was difficult. They came in quick bursting rounds. He could only guess when he had his chance to make a move. The shots ceased suddenly and he sprang to action.

Rushing toward the remaining seven soldiers, he let out an intimidating battle cry. It sounded feral, even to him. Two or three of the soldiers retreated while the rest stared in horror or prepared themselves for a fight with blades. They drew their combat knives. Zack was at an advantage having his word but he was still outnumbered…and growing more weary by the second.

Pain erupted between his shoulder blades as something sliced through the tissue and muscle. He'd left his back wide open to attack as he was busy taking the lives of two others. He turned fast and punched the soldier who just slashed him. He turned back to the final soldier standing, just in time to see the soldier's knife coming at his face. He barely ducked back in time, the blade cutting through the skin of his forehead near his hairline. In anger, and frustration, he thrust his sword into the young soldier's gut, withdrawing quickly and watching him sink to his knees before swinging the blade for a final fatal blow, taking the soldier's head off clean. He grabbed the knife from his hand before it could fall from his dead fingers and turned, pitching it toward the soldier who'd slashed his back. He had been crawling away when the combat knife struck him in the center of his back. A series of screams erupted from the soldier as he writhed on the ground before the shock must have consumed him and he grew silent.

Zack whipped his head from side to side, waiting for the next attack, but he seemed to be alone, except for the dead and dying lying around him. The scent of gun smoke and blood was overwhelming. He looked on the scene that he had created. Countless bodies. He couldn't believe it. He'd won?

Slowly, he forced himself to move away from the carnage at his feet, moving towards the edge of the cliff. He could hear the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance. He stood shakily a few moments before his knees gave out under him and he dropped to the ground, panting and wiping blood out of his eye from the gash on his forehead.

_It's over…_he thought as he laid his blade down on the ground next to him and rested his forearms on the dirt, leaning forward and placing his forehead on the ground as he took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He could feel his adrenaline falling and the pain in his body taking over.

He wasn't aware at first of the approaching footsteps. He was too busy basking in relief. He'd actually survived the fight. He had to admit he'd been doubtful…

Then, he heard them. The footsteps. He turned his face and set eyes upon the three remaining soldiers. _No_, he thought painfully as he raised his upper body and took note of their reloaded weapons. "No," he repeated aloud between his laboured breaths. He dragged himself up slowly and the soldiers took some steps closer.

He stood weakly, holding his buster sword, its weight ever-apparent in his current condition. Zack waited, panting and sweating from every pore. He was finished. He knew that. He could take out one of them. Maybe two if he was fast enough, which he doubted he would be. But not all three. He had spent his strength. And yet, even though he was sure of the inevitability of the situation, and almost accepting of it, he was still shocked when the soldiers open-fired and several bullets ripped through his body. He heard himself scream as though it were someone else. The pain was unbelievable. Hot, and fierce. He dropped to his knees before falling backward, his body landing on the pebbled surface below him.

There was a brief moment when he heard nothing and the only thing he could see was the densely clouded sky above him. Then, one of his shooters came into view. He stood over him, observing Zack, with his weapon in his hand. His helmet prevented Zack from seeing his eyes. No doubt that's where the real expression in his face was. The soldier hesitated, glancing over his shoulder once before raising his weapon and squeezing the trigger once more.

Zack wasn't sure where the final bullet landed. It could have been in his head for all he knew. He blacked out the moment it entered his body. But he wasn't killed. He opened his eyes once again and stared up into the now quaking sky. Some time had passed, but how much he wasn't sure. Thunder rumbled and rain poured from the clouds, drenching him head to toe, a few drops find their way into his eyes. The rain was cold. But not unwelcome. It seemed to soothe his body, diminishing the heat the bullets in his body had inflicted him with.

He thought of trying to get up but gave up after a moment of half-hearted attempts. There was so much pain. He was tired. So tired…he only hoped Cloud had not been found. He strained to reach his hand into his left pocket, grasping what he'd been keeping there. The necklace he meant to give to Aeris. He clutched it in his fist and held it tightly, to his chest.

"I'm sorry, Aeris," he said just above a whisper. "I'm so sorry."

Cloud came out of his unconscious state with the sounds of gunfire still echoing in his mind. He hadn't been able to see the firefight from where Zack had left him hidden but he'd heard it. Made a guess at how many had been involved. His best guess was staggering. It had sounded like nearly a hundred or so. All but a few armed with automatic, Shinra issued firearms.

He waited for Zack to return but minutes passed with nothing but eerie silence and the intermittent rumbling of thunder overhead. He forced himself to move then, pulling himself forward with all the effort he had at his disposal. He landed on the ground face-first, coughing a little as a bit of the dirt not yet wet from the rain entered his mouth and nose, rushing to the back of his throat. Groaning, partly from the amount of strength it took to move himself, and partly from the stiff pain in his limbs, he pushed his one arm forward and dug his fingers into the ground. A long exhale marked with a cry of pain from the exertion left his mouth as he dragged his body forward a few feet. It was the most movement he'd made on his own accord in months. And his muscles weren't liking it.

Another grumble of thunder and rain fell harder. Each drop was bitterly cold. It poured faster with the passing moments, forming puddles and turning the ground to mud before he'd even gotten himself five meters from the spot Zack had left him. It made the task at hand that much more miserable. But he was determined. By the time he'd gotten himself to a place where he could view the area the firefight had just taken place he was able to lift his upper body up onto his elbows.

Then he saw Zack. His best friend. Sprawled out on his back unmoving, the hilt of his sword resting loosely in his right hand. Cloud looked down then, at a line of diluted red that was touching his fingertips. He realized only then that the ground in the entire area was coated in blood. There were no bodies, outside of Zack's, they must have been collected by the remaining soldiers, but there were many abandoned weapons and spent shell casings littering the area.

Inch by agonizing inch, he pulled himself toward Zack, his fear driving him. He wasn't sure what Zack's state would be when he got to him. A rush of relief went through him when he discovered he was still alive. And awake for that matter, though his breathing was slow and shallow. He didn't even seem to notice Cloud until his friend was right next to him. His clothing was shredded and bloody, his face and arms marred by small cuts and grazes.

"Zack," Cloud spoke his name uneasily, his arms shaking as he tried to hold himself up on them. Zack's countenance changed then suddenly. His brow furrowed and his forehead creased as he gritted his teeth and sucked in a painful breath. It took a few seconds for whatever wave of pain he was feeling to run through him and subside slightly.

"On my behalf," he spoke then, surprising Cloud a little. It seemed an odd thing to say.

"On your…behalf?" Cloud repeated hesitantly, trying to understand.

"That's right," Zack confirmed. "You will…"

"…You will?"

Zack reached his left hand out then. It shook as he reached behind Cloud's head, grasping hold of it and pulling it toward him. Cloud didn't resist the action. He found himself leaning forward, his right cheek pressing against Zack's blood-soaked chest.

"Live," Zack spoke firmly. "You are…the proof that I existed." His hand slid from the back of his friend's head then, his arm falling limply at his side. Cloud lifted himself slowly. He stared down at Zack in confusion, his mouth open slightly and ready to respond. But the words were absent. He watched Zack tighten his grip on his sword and lift it barely off the ground. He slid it toward Cloud. "My pride and my dreams…" he continued weakly, lifting the hilt as high as he could and holding it out to Cloud, "I give it all to you."

Cloud shifted his gaze from the sword to Zack and back again. He lifted his hand slowly and took hold of the hilt. Hesitantly, he closed his other hand around it as well. Zack's hand released it then and fell back to the ground.

Cloud stared at the sword in his hands, felt its immense weight even though it was resting mostly on the earth. "I…am the proof that you existed…" he repeated Zack's words barely at a whisper, thinking about all that they meant. A calm smile came over Zack's face and he shifted his gaze, turning it upward where he focused on the sky. Cloud watched him silently, gripping Zack's sword and wondering if he should say something. They needed to get out of the rain. Zack needed help. _He's so still. He's not blinking…_he thought to himself anxiously. His stomach plummeted.

He realized suddenly that Zack had passed. There was no final breath. Not like in stories or movies. Not even like there seemed to be in the simulations. No. Everything just stopped, along with the rise and fall of Zack's chest. That was the only other indication that life had left his friend. Cloud's eyes widened as he dropped the hilt of the buster sword and pressed his ear to Zack's chest, listening hard for his heartbeat. He lifted his head slowly to see Zack's still eyes gazing sightlessly skyward. He could see the mako glow dimming and disappearing.

"_No_," Cloud barely whispered as he stared down at his friend's form. "No!" He grew angry suddenly, placing his hands on Zack's chest and beginning compressions. "You're not gonna leave now, Zack! Not after all we've been through!" Gripping Zack's chin with one hand and plugging his nose with the other, he clamped his mouth over Zack's and exhaled deeply, filling his friend's lungs with air. After another breath he returned to pumping his chest. The longer the process continued the more frantic Cloud's motions became. Frantic, and desperate.

"Come on, Zack, BREATHE!" he ordered furiously after delivering another lungful of air to him. As the minutes passed he felt his anxiety choking him. Tears began to stream. "Zack! Please!" he shouted as he finished up another round of compressions. He grabbed Zack's blood-soaked shirt and pulled his limp torso from the ground, trying to force him to sit up. "You can't do this, Zack!" he continued as he stared into Zack's lifeless eyes. "I need you, Zack! I can't go on without you! PLEASE!"

He let go of his shirt, letting him fall back on the dirt. Not knowing what to do, he went back to delivering chest compressions. When he breathed into him again and nothing happened he screamed in frustration, breaking into sobs as he tried one last time to force his heart to start itself. He gave up on the tenth push, sitting back on his heels and crying openly, his blood-covered hands resting on Zack's chest uselessly. "Please…" he whispered painfully one last time.

It couldn't be over. Not like that…

His heart nearly leapt to his throat when he felt Zack's chest rise suddenly. His eyes darted to Zack's face to see his eyelids fall and his head jerk to the side slightly. His chest heaved in a few deep breaths. "Zack!" Cloud gripped his face in his hands and put his ear close to his friend's mouth. A wave of relief came over him as he felt a rush of exhaled air against it. "Okay. You're gonna be okay," he spoke aloud to him though he was clearly unconscious. Cloud tried to stand, falling back to the ground the first time as his weak legs gave out. But he tried again, managing to hold himself up as he leaned down and removed Zack's sword sheath, putting it on himself and struggling to get the large buster sword inside it. He lifted Zack under his arms. He was too heavy for him to attempt to carry at that moment. But he could drag him. He'd drag him all the way to Midgar if he had to. As he lifted Zack's torso from the ground, something fell from his hand into the mud. Cloud paused, lowering Zack again and reaching for what had fallen. It was a necklace. He shoved it into his pocket before lifting his friend once more.

"Come on!" he shouted at himself as he strained every muscle in moving Zack. He wasn't going to let him die. Cloud didn't know much about what had happened to himself or how long it had gone on, but he did know that Zack had taken care of him and it was his turn now.

The rain stopped and the clouds parted as he began making his way down to the valley, hopeful that he'd find help down there somewhere. As the sun beat down on him from behind, drying his and Zack's clothing slowly, he started to realize something. It scared him so he didn't think too much about it but there was still that question at the forefront of his mind and his memory refused to indulge him with the answer to that question.

_Who am I?_


	54. Note About the Sequel

**SPOILER ALERT!!! **

If you haven't read the last chapter of RtS (Chapter 50) then you may want to go back and do that before reading on.

Okay?

Have you left? I can go on? Haha!

Alright. So Zack's alive haha. While I doubt any of you are THAT disappointed, I am sorry to those who feel that it would have been the appropriate ending. I'll confess, when I first began the story I had every intention of ending Zack's life at the end. But then, when I first began the story I didn't know much about Zack. As a few of you know, I haven't really had much contact with the games because well I'm poor haha! So I can't afford the games or the systems to play them on. I have on occasion played a bit of FFVII at friends' places. Anyway, I didn't know much about FFVII before watching Advent Children. After seeing it I became rather obsessed lol. So, millions of hours of internet research later, I was left with this want to know what went on those years that Zack and Cloud were locked away in the Shinra Mansion because that's where, I believe, the real bond between the two was located.

I believe Crisis Core either hadn't come out yet, or had just been released when I began the story so I hadn't gotten a really good glimpse of Zack when I began. But after watching the movie segments from the game on the internet I realized suddenly "There's no way I can kill this character." I was so heart broken after seeing how much the character went through in CC only to die such a terrible death at the end.

SO, here we are. As I've mentioned before, the sequel is going to be very AU. Since I shortened the boys' escape from around a year to just a month or so I like to think of the sequel as the year before FFVII. With that said, I'm not sure all of you will want to read it. It's going to have a very real-life feel to it in many aspects. Dealing with issues that aren't really included in the original plots. I know some of you have mentioned you typically prefer Zack and Cloud in a yaoi pairing and that you made an exception in reading RtS. Which I'm very grateful for ^^

What I will say is that Aeris and Tifa WILL be in the sequel, as well as a few female OCs but I'm not at this point planning on writing in extensive romantic relationships between the girls and Zack and Cloud. As I've said before, my main obsession is the friendship between the boys, which I will also say will remain friendship. And I'm sorry for that haha as I know there are those of you who wish to see that friendship blossom into something more. Can't say I haven't thought about trying it out just for ya'll who wish to see it but at the same time there are others who prefer the friendship and it's what I feel fits perfect with the story at the moment. So no yaoi haha.

I am planning, however, on exploring some different sides to the characters, most important of which would be an darker/evil side to Cloud. At the end of RtS, he is without much memory, and as far as we know still inhabited by Jenova. A few of you have said you would like to see what Cloud would be like if he gave into Jenova and allowed her to use him and I'm definitely willing to explore that.

Don't get me wrong though, the sequel, while original, won't be entirely off the main plot. And we'll be seeing more of some original characters, particularly the Turks.

Well I believe that's about all I have to say. I managed to fix up my computer enough that it's working moderately okay for me so there shouldn't be a problem in my updates to Dreams Incarnate. In terms of a time estimate for when I will begin submitting chapters to the sequel…probably sooner than later. I'm planning on returning to school in the fall so I know my time will be limited for writing. I would say expect the first chapter within a few weeks. I will post a note here to let you all know when I've submitted it so you can look for it if you wish.

Also, for any of you who are interested, I always listen to music when I write and there are usually a few songs that really strike me depending on what I'm writing that I feel go along with or influence the events or moods of the what I'm writing so I've written down the songs that sort of represent RtS to me. Just for fun ^^ they're listed below.

Thanks again to all who stayed around 'till the end. Hope to see you all for the sequel!

Jaydee

Weatherman – +44

Photograph – 12 Stones

Running Out of Pain – 12 Stones

Stay – 12 Stones

This Dark Day – 12 Stones

World So Cold – 12 Stones

This Could Be Anywhere in the World – Alexisonfire

I Don't Care – Apocalyptica ft. Adam Gontier

When Two Are One – Atreyu

(Fin) – Anberlin

Breathe – Anberlin

Change the World (Lost Ones) – Anberlin

Reclusion – Anberlin

The Unwinding Cable Car – Anberlin

Waking Up With Wolves – The Black Maria

(Fork and Knife) – Brand New

You Won't Know – Brand New

Delirium Trigger – Coheed and Cambria

The Reaping – Coheed and Cambria

Welcome Home – Coheed and Cambria

Underneath the Stars – The Cure

The Grace – Dallas Green

Out of My Hands – Dave Matthews Band

Where Do We Go From Here – Filter

Come Clarity – In Flames

Ambulances – Institute

The Little Things Give You Away – Linkin Park

Save My Soul – Low Level Flight

When Will I Learn – Low Level Flight

Black Helicopter – Matthew Good

Running for Home – Matthew Good

Fade to Black – Metallica

Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue) – Neil Young

Into the West – Pilate

Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd

Falling by the Wayside – People in Planes

Mayday (M'aidez) – People in Planes

Moth – People in Planes

Pretty Buildings – People in Planes

Loui – Ronald Jenkees

Anchors – Secret and Whisper

Looming Moon – Secret and Whisper

The Antidote – Story of the Year

Life's Disease – Stutterfly

Damascus – Sufjan Stevens

For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti – Sufjan Stevens

Favorite Disease – Thousand Foot Krutch

Move – Thousand Foot Krutch

Come All You Weary – Thrice

Daedalus – Thrice

Digital Sea – Thrice

Victim – Trapt


	55. Sequel!

Hello everyone! Just a little note to let you know the sequel to "Reduced to Specimens" has officially entered the fanfic site haha! It's under the name "Reclamation" but it's only the prologue that's up now. It'll still be a few days until the first chapter is out. Thanks for your patience ^^

Cheers!

-Jaydee


	56. Updated Version of RtS?

Hey guys! Well me taking the time to update here can only mean one thing! Well actually it can mean two things. One would be that I'm ready to start submitting updated/edited/extended chapters to "Reduced to Specimens". The other would be that I'm beginning to THINK about submitting them. I actually wanted to get your opinion on what you would prefer I do. I can update chapters whenever they're ready to be submitted, or I could wait until I have a few chapters to update with so you have more than one chapter to read at a time, OR I could update with the entire thing. Obviously it would take a while for me to update the whole thing at once. I can't promise regular updating for either of the former options. So I suppose one benefit of having the entire story updated at one time would mean no delays between chapters. Anyway, if you're interested in choosing how you would like the story updated, you can vote on the poll I have posted on my page (hopefully it shows up there...seems to be taking its time). Or if you would like to give any type of feedback, feel free to message me! I'd love to hear your opinion!

Thanks guys!


	57. Note About My Note

Hi again everyone! I just realized that there's something I should have mentioned in the note before this one. For anyone who likes the story as it is and prefers not to have it changed at all, you don't have to worry, I'm going to be submitting the new chapters as a new version of the story. so i will be subitting it as a seperate story. It will have a title something like "Reduced to Specimens Uncut" or something more clever, I dunno. I'll let you know. So anyway, if you don't want to read the newer version of the story you won't have to ^^. Also, I just thought i'd mention that when I say the chapters are going to be edited, it doesn't mean I'll be taking anything out of them. Just fixing mistakes and adding in more detail or 'scenes' I had contemplated adding before but left out in the interest of time. So, I guess the new version would be something similar to 'Advent Children Complete' in comparison to 'Advent Children.' That sort of thing. Alright, I'm done blabbing. Thanks to everyone who's been sending messages telling me what they think of all this and to those who have been voting on the poll that's been posted on my page. You'll hear from me again shortly!


	58. More noteness

Hey everyone. This will be a general message that I'm going to upload to all three of my stories so you don't have to read them all if you have all three on alert. I thought I should give a little update because it's been forever since I've submitted. I'm assuming I still have readers.

Well...basically, it's going to take me awhile longer to update. I have a lot going on...a couple jobs, school, etc. and honestly, I'm not all that motivated to write. whileI've gotten good reviews on reclamation and dreams incarnate, I'm getting a fair number of reviews that have been telling me reclamation is either 'boring', 'repetitive', 'slow', 'too AU', not written the way people like it, and so on. obviously I want honest reviews and I appreciate critical feedback but I sometimes can't help rolling my eyes over certain things, things I address in author's notes. I get the feeling a lot of people don't read the notes I leave. And therefore those people probably won't read this one so really I'm probably lecturing to all the readers who actually like my work. I would just like to say, if you do not like the AU plot of the story I'm writing, PLEASE, do not leave me messages complaining about it. I have said a few times that the story will be AU. The end. I mentioned as well that Zack and Cloud would both be in some relationships in the story, so...there's going to be relationships. Also, I've recieved a number of comments on my writing style. I promise to try and stay away from bothersome things like short, fragmented sentences and other mechanisms of emphasis but guys, my writing style is my writing style. I'm sorry if you find it annoying.

Anyway, I'm not going to go on and on. I'll just say that, I understand if you are reading the story and you like the premise but there are things that bother you that you would want to express what you don't like, and that's totally cool with me. I will try my best to please. I believe that's what most of you are doing and that's awesome. But if you seriously just hate the story then don't bother sending me messages that are essentially an all-out bashing when you can just save your breath and stop reading.

All that said, I hope I really didn't offend anyone with this message. You all should know how happy I am that you read the stuff I write, and I really do like writing it. I'm not going to leave and not finish the stories or anything. I've decided what I'm going to do is take time to write several chapters at a time and submit them at one time, that way there's less of a chance of the chapter seeming like 'nothing's going on'. And I may skip through some of the plot I had originally planned out so that there's more action.

I think that's all from me right now. For those waiting on the newer version of RtS, I have been working on it and I'll probably submit several chapters at one the same as the other stories. At least until I have more time to put out single chapters.

Take care, everyone.


	59. RtS uncut has arrived!

_Hello friends! Just a quick note to let you know the first chapter of the uncut/extended/updated version of 'Reduced to Specimens' has finally been submitted! Check it out if you're interested! You can get to it through my profile page and it's titled "Reduced to Specimens Uncut Version". Enjoy!_


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